Lost
by djenie
Summary: Okay—our favorite characters, lost again on a distant planet... What! Not who you expected? Huh! So maybe it's... Nope, not those two either! Wonder what happens now...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It's the rain that wakes him. Pelting rain. Hitting his face. Soaking his clothes. He's lying in water. He opens his eyes. Gray everywhere. Fog. Thick, heavy fog, along with the rain.

He tries to move and his back and hip hurt enough to stop him. _Oh, crap... what's happened this time... _For several moments he lies still, waiting for the aches to subside.

More carefully, he tries again, turning in the opposite direction this time, away from the painful hip. Slower. Not so much hurt, but just as much wet. The side of his face is in water now. He reaches out for leverage to raise himself out of it...

There's a yelp and then a groan... Not him! Somebody lying nearby. He put his hand down on the person when he was trying to get up. _Damn. _He turns his head to see...

Dark hair, long and curly. Mal-Doran?

He frowns, trying to remember. He and Mal-Doran... and... Daniel and Sam. Right! They were headed home from... oh who remembers all those planet designations, anyway! Headed home from the planet with the really hairy people. Literally, hairy—as in covered with the stuff. But they're really nice people, too, he has to admit. Not at all disagreeable once you get past the hair...

Anyway, headed home—back to the SGC. Which _this place _most certainly is _not._ Unless the gateroom's become foggy and flooded. And rocky—those are definitely rocks underneath his butt. He shifts, adjusts, and finally manages to rise somewhat out of the water, supporting himself on one arm.

Beside him Mal-Doran groans again. He hears the water slosh as she moves, and then a small tidal wave hits him when she rolls onto her back. The movement brings another yip of pain from her throat.

"Easy does it," he says, finding his voice is hoarse. "Take it slow."

Her deep violet eyes open and stare blankly upward for a few moments, until she finally registers his presence and turns toward him. "General...?" It's barely a murmur. "What... happened?"

"I don't know," he admits. "How bad are you hurt?"

She thinks about it a few seconds. "Headache... Where are we?"

"In the mud..." he mutters.

He's moving his body slowly, testing, trying to determine where the pain is coming from. Definitely his left hip and lower back, but he can move through the pain. So, nothing broken, he thinks. He straightens to a sitting position. _His butt's still in the water—but that's better than his face!_

His head aches, too, but his memory's coming back. They'd been preparing to depart through the Stargate. The hairy folks—Pegelans? Peglegs?—had sent along a delegation to see them off. Carter was dialing home when a monster storm came out of nowhere!

_There was lightning like he'd never seen before—incredibly violent, unrelenting. The delegation members ran in terror, shouting for their guests to take cover. One of them grabbed Vala's arm and urged her along with them. _

_The gate connected. Sam and Daniel were beside the gate and Jack shouted for them to go ahead. He went after Vala, heading into the trees. Just as he reached her, she broke away from her well-meaning captor and ran in his direction. He saw Daniel and Sam disappear into the wormhole as he and Vala turned toward the gate. Fifteen seconds later they broke through the event horizon together, and at that instant he heard the huge crack of a lightning strike..._

"The gate was hit by lightning," he says, more to himself than to her. He looks around. Through the fog to his right he can see the outline of the silent gate; on his left, further away, there's a shadow that's probably the DHD. Nothing else is visible in the grayness.

Vala is struggling to a sitting position. "Are you all right, General?"

"I'm fine. We were entering the event horizon when the lightning struck."

"So... where are we?" she asks. "This isn't Earth."

"No," he agrees. "The gate's over there." He hauls himself to his feet, wincing at the pain in his hip, but finding with considerable relief that he can stand. He limps toward the gate. After a moment, Vala rises and follows him.

They recognize the pedestal around the gate. It's the one on the 'hairy folks' planet. (Jack has determinedly resisted the temptation to call it the Planet of the Apes – knowing that once he gets that image in his head, he'll never get rid of it.)

"We're still on Peglea Two," Vala say.

_Right. That's what it's called. And the people are Pegleans._ Jack nods with some relief. "Then let's dial ourselves home." They make their way carefully through the fog in the direction of the DHD. It isn't raining as hard, but visibility has not improved.

"This way," Jack says, catching Vala's arm and pulling her off to the left where he sees the low shadow. "Go ahead, dial it," he says, as they reach the structure. "I'll get ready to send the IDC."

She nods and begins pressing the symbols of Earth's address. But when she's finished and places her hand on the central crystal, it only lights briefly and then fades out.

"It didn't connect," she says, pushing down the edge of panic in her chest.

"Yeah. I got that," he growls. "Try again."

Three more tries only yield the same result.

"Maybe the lightning shorted out something," Jack suggests. He glances over at Vala. She has her arms wrapped around herself, and a look of distress on her face. "We need to find shelter, and wait until the storm is over," Jack decides. The rain is warm, but being wet to the skin is uncomfortably chilly nonetheless. She's wearing a tank top, having discarded her BDU shirt earlier, in the heat of the day. Jack looks around for their packs and weapons. His pack's lying near the puddle where he awakened. Hers is off to the side. Their P90s are on the ground nearby. "Come on. Let's find a drier spot."

He goes over and picks up his pack, and then reaches for hers. She takes it from him. He picks up his weapon and after a moment's thought, heads in the direction that he hopes will take them to the edge of the gate clearing. Within a few meters, they reach the trees. The canopy is thicker than he realized before, and much of the rainfall is being deflected.

Jack pulls a lightweight waterproof tarp from his pack and sets about creating a rain shield, then spreads a plastic ground sheet underneath. Next he takes the tent from Vala's pack and sets it up on the ground sheet. They always travel with full camping gear, but the second tent was in Daniel's pack, so they only have the one. He pushes Vala down into the tent, and climbs in behind her, taking her sleeping bag out of her pack, spreading it out. It's very dim inside the tent.

"Take your clothes off," he orders.

"What?"

"Take your clothes off, and get in the sleeping bag. You'll freeze otherwise." He rolls his eyes when she hesitates. "Don't worry, I'll turn my back. I plan to do the same thing. Get in the bag to put your dry clothes on."

He spreads his own sleeping bag out, then sits with his back to her and starts to disrobe. She doesn't move for a few moments. When he goes to strip his t-shirt over his head, she turns her back and begins to undress. It's awkward, but she manages to do as he instructed. Before she's done he's finished and redressed in dry things. His wet clothes are more or less spread out on his other side. She crawls into the bag and reaches out to spread her own wet things.

"These will never dry."

"We'll hang them on tree branches or bushes when the rain stops," he says. He looks over at her. "I have the first aid kit if you need it."

"I've just the headache, and that's better. Couple of scratches and scrapes. What about you?"

"Bruises," he says. "Banged my hip pretty good. I'll limp for a while."

He doles out pain killers for both of them, sharing his water. Then he digs energy bars from his pack and hands one to her.

"It's getting darker—must be evening," he said as he chews, frowning. "It was morning when we were leaving. We must have been out for a long time."

"Hmmm..." she replies absently.

They're quiet for a while. Jack takes a cloth out of his pack and starts to break down his P90, wiping it carefully to dry it as much as possible. When he's finished with his, he picks up hers and does the same.

"They haven't tried to dial back to find us," she says finally.

"Maybe whatever's stopping us from dialing out is also stopping them," he says. "Carter will figure it out."

"What will we do now?" she asks.

"Right now we sleep," Jack says. "When it gets light we'll try the gate again. If that doesn't work, we'll go back to the town. I'm sure they'll put us up until this gets ironed out." He sounds very positive. "Go to sleep."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

They crawl out of their shelter a few hours later to a clear and sunny morning. The air is warm. A good deal warmer, in fact, than it has been during the three days of their visit so far. Everything seems greener, too. More lush. The vegetation is heavier.

"Wow," Vala comments. "That storm made a big difference. It's almost like the season changed overnight."

Jack is frowning, studying the open space around the Stargate. It doesn't seem as large as it was the day before. And the area is overgrown, rather than beaten down into paths by the comings and goings through the gate. Can the grass have grown up that quickly? With all the wind and lightning he'd expected broken branches, maybe even trees down, leaves and small objects strewn about, but that's not the case this morning. The forest appears thicker, darker, the trees taller...

Two more attempts to dial Earth meet with the same failure as the evening before. They also try the Alpha site with equal lack of success.

"The problem must be with this gate. Let's head over to the town," Jack suggests after they have draped their clothes and tarps to dry over nearby bushes, and packed the rest of their things into their backpacks. He slings his pack onto his shoulders and picks up the P90, checking its load. Vala also dons her pack and heads out without waiting for further instructions.

The path to the town seems to have vanished in the vegetation. Yesterday it appeared well-trod, the opening obvious among the trees. The path winds along for about two kilometers down a narrow valley, and out onto the side of a hill overlooking the town. After some searching, they locate the valley, though following it is difficult because of the undergrowth which has taken over. Jack's frown deepens as they walk. Something is definitely off here.

The valley leads them out onto the side of the hill, just as it should have, but when they arrive there, in an opening in the trees, they stop and stare in shock.

The hollow in the hills where the town should be is a great shallow meadow, with a medium-sized river running through it. There is no town. There is absolutely no sign of civilization of any kind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for your interest in this story! I hope you continue to enjoy.**

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The Stargate shuddered and bolts of electricity shot out from the ring, making the guards in the gateroom dive for cover.

General Hank Landry hurried into the control room. "What's happening?"

"We just received SG-1's IDC, sir," Sergeant Harriman said, ducking reflexively as another charge hit the wall above the blast-resistant window. "Then the gate went haywire."

"Open the iris," Landry ordered. "Looks like they need to get home quickly."

"Yes, sir." Harriman pressed his palm to the reader.

The iris stuttered as streams of electricity shimmered on its surface, then finally retracted slowly. Moments later Daniel Jackson and Colonel Carter were ejected forcefully from the wormhole. Daniel landed awkwardly on his side and rolled on the ramp with a cry of pain. Sam managed to keep her feet, but momentum sent her running all the way down the ramp. They were followed through by another bolt of electricity which narrowly missed Daniel and impacted the concrete floor. The wormhole shut down with a crack.

Harriman reached for the all-call mike. "Medical assistance to the gateroom!"

Landry hurried down the stairs, and joined Carter where she had returned to kneel beside Daniel, who had rolled over with a groan, holding onto his shoulder. Medics were only a few steps behind, led by Dr. Lam.

"Colonel, where are General O'Neill and Ms. Mal Doran?" Landry asked as they moved aside to make room for the medical personnel.

Carter glanced toward the stargate. "They were behind us, sir. A big storm hit just as we were dialing home. They were further away from the gate. The general ordered us to go ahead. The wormhole must have closed before they could get there."

Dr. Lam was having Daniel put on a gurney, despite his protests. "Your shoulder is dislocated," the doctor said.

"Yeah—I noticed..." Daniel grated. "Sam!" he called. "What happened? Where are Vala and Jack?"

She hurried to his side. "I don't know, Daniel. I'm guessing lightning struck the gate and shut it down before they came through."

"So they're still on P8K-224?" He frowned. "They'll redial..."

"It depends on the storm. It might be too dangerous there to try again right away. And we need to run a diagnostic on the gate before we dial out again to make sure the lightning didn't do any damage here."

They were interrupted when Dr. Lam took over, ordering that Daniel be taken to the infirmary.

"I'll come and tell you when we know something," Sam promised. She watched him being wheeled out, and then she headed for the control room.

An hour later Carter had examined the gate's computer record and determined that the wormhole had been terminated at the other end. The gate diagnostic showed no damage, and in that hour there had been no attempt to dial in from the planet. She ordered a MALP readied, and requested permission to dial 224.

"Hopefully the storm is over by now," she said to Landry.

"Go ahead," he agreed. "But we're not sending anyone through until we get some information from the MALP."

"Yes, sir."

Ten minutes later the MALP was rolling up the ramp and into the event horizon. They waited for the images to be transmitted. Soon the pictures began to resolve themselves.

The clearing was quiet now, the storm obviously having ended. However, as the MALP scanned the space, the aftermath was clear. Broken tree branches and debris were strewn throughout the area. Leaves had been stripped from trees and littered the ground thickly. Several entire trees were broken off or uprooted; a large tree trunk had fallen across the DHD. There was no sign of people.

"That could be a problem," Carter commented indicating the tree lying on the DHD. "If the DHD is damaged, it might be impossible to dial out." She glanced over at Landry. "We should take a naquadah generator in case we have to power the gate and dial manually."

He nodded. "All right. When are Mitchell and Teal'c due back from Chulak?"

"In a little over five hours, sir," Harriman answered the question.

"I'd rather not wait that long, sir," Sam protested. "If the General and Vala are injured, we shouldn't waste time."

Landry reluctantly agreed. "I'll send SG5 with you. If we don't hear from you shortly, we'll dial the planet in half an hour."

"Thank you, sir. I'd like to leave right away."

He nodded.

Fifteen minutes later Carter and SG5 were in the gateroom, kitted out. A remote controlled transport vehicle, with the generator and an assortment of other supplies and tools that might be needed, was ready to accompany them. Sam had left it up to General Landry to explain to Daniel what they were doing.

Colonel Victor Sharp, leader of SG5, and the other members of his team, Capt. Jennifer Hailey, Lt. Douglas, and Senior Airman Eaton, were standing with Carter as the wormhole engaged. In the control room, Harriman checked the transmission from the MALP, and nodded to Landry.

"All clear, Colonel Carter and SG5," the General said into the mike. "You have a go."

They followed the transport vehicle through the event horizon.

The damage from the storm was extensive. Standing in the center of the clearing Sam could see that it was much more dramatic than it appeared over the MALP transmission. The ground was carpeted with broken branches and downed trees. Beyond the treeline, the degree of destruction was even greater. The group had to pick their way through it all.

"Let's spread out and search for any sign of General O'Neill and Vala," Sam said. "I'm going to see if the DHD works." She was able to dial successfully, and reported their status to General Hammond and was instructed to check in again in two hours.

Forty minutes of searching, which took them well into the forest, turned up nothing.

"They aren't here, Sam," Vic Sharp said as they gathered back at the gate. "What do you want to do now?"

"Let's head over to the town. Maybe they went there, or somewhere along the way."

"All right," Vic agreed. "Douglas, Eaton. Cover the gate. Check in every half hour. Hailey, you're with us."

They started out toward the town. It was slow going, since the path was blocked in many places by debris. About a kilometer along they met a group from the town who were clearing away the mess. One of them, a man named Raanon, came forward to greet them.

"Colonel Carter," he said, smiling. "It's good to see you. I'm glad you weren't injured in the storm."

"Thank you. It looks as if there's quite a bit of damage. Is your town all right?"

"We were fortunate. Only the periphery of the town was hit. The vortex of the storm passed just to the west of it. There were a few injuries, but we are doing well."

"That's good news," Sam said.

Raanon was joined by two women whose faces were also familiar. "This is Marlan and Kreyna."

Carter nodded a greeting and introduced Sharp and Hailey. "Can you tell me if General O'Neill and Vala Mal Doran from our original group are in your town?"

"No, Colonel. I'm sorry, they are not. They left with you."

"No, they didn't come home with us. We think the gate closed before they could make it through."

Kreyna spoke. "I saw them step through the Great Ring myself, Colonel Carter. They were some distance behind you. Immediately after that the Ring was struck by lightning, and the blue water vanished. We assumed they went home with you."

Carter frowned. "No they didn't..." Her voice trailed off. For the first time, she considered the possibility that Jack and Vala were in the wormhole when it closed down. She felt sick at the thought.

"Then where could they have gone?" Raanon asked in a puzzled voice.

Captain Hailey moved forward. "Colonel Carter."

"Yes, Jennifer?" Sam turned to the younger woman.

"Could the lightning strike have caused the wormhole to jump to another gate? The way it did when you and the General were sent to Antarctica," Hailey suggested.

"Would the storm have been powerful enough to do that?" Colonel Sharp asked.

"Judging by the lightning that came through our gate, I think it might, sir. Especially if there was a direct strike." Hailey replied, then glanced at Carter for confirmation.

"It's possible," Sam said thoughtfully. "We'll have to examine the computer record again. See if we can tell just how much power was expended." She glanced at Sharp. "We need to get back to the SGC."

Sharp nodded, then turned to Raanon. "We can send a couple of teams to help you clean up this mess, if you need them."

"Thank you, Colonel Sharp, but we will be fine," the Peglean replied. "These storms strike every year in this season. We are experienced in dealing with the aftermath."

"We will check in with you in a few days then, just to make sure everything is all right," Sharp promised.

"We appreciate that. And I hope you locate your missing people."

Carter and SG5 returned to the Stargate quickly and gated home.

Sam and Hailey went directly to the control room to start analyzing the information from the lightning strikes to the gate. They had been immersed in the problem for two hours, when Daniel arrived, his left arm in a sling and strapped immobile against his body.

"Hey," he said, taking a chair beside Sam.

"Hey, yourself." She raised her eyes from the computer and stretched. "How're you doing?"

"Sore. But I'll be fine. Any progress?"

"Well, it looks like there probably was enough of a power surge to make the wormhole jump somewhere," she said.

"Like the time you and Jack were sent to the second gate."

She frowned. "Sort of like that—but not exactly."

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Well, Jennifer suggested a different possibility," Sam turned to look at the captain.

Hailey swiveled her chair around to face them. "Dr. Jackson," she acknowledged. "In the Antarctica incident, the power surge affected our gate, and made _this_ end of the wormhole disengage and redirect to the second gate. This time the lightning that struck the gate on P8K-224 disconnected it at that end."

"So, you think the 224 end jumped to a nearby gate."

"Judging by the gate diagnostics that seems the logical conclusion," Hailey agreed. "However there are no gates near 224. The closest one is over five thousand light years away. It's highly unlikely to have traveled that far in search of another gate."

"What does that mean? Could all of that energy simply dissipate into space?" Daniel asked, horrified.

"No, we don't think so," Sam said.

"It had to have a terminus," Hailey explained.

"Where?" Daniel demanded.

"We don't know yet," Sam admitted.

"Actually..." Hailey said, "I may have a theory about that, too."

Just then the gate started to engage.

"Unscheduled off-world activation!" Harriman announced.

They all turned and watched as the ring cycled through the symbols. General Landry descended the stairs from his office. As the kawhoosh burgeoned into the gate room, Sam's eyes were fixed on the computer, waiting for the IDC.

"It's Teal'c and Cam," she said a few moments later.

"Open the iris," Landry instructed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to all of you who are reading this story! **

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"So we're positive this is the same planet?" Jack asks, rubbing his hip and lower back. His head is also aching, but that's mostly from the nagging idea in the back of his mind that he's trying very hard to ignore. They've spent several hours exploring the nearby landscape, and are now seated on a rocky protrusion above the frustratingly empty valley where the Peglean town ought to be.

"Everything checks," Vala points out, mildly irritated—he's asked the same question three times in the last quarter hour. "The point of origin symbol on the gate is the same. The natural landmarks are the same, except for the extra vegetation." She waved a hand toward the land below them. "And just look at the valley—it's the same. That mountain peak in the distance is impossible to mistake. The town's just not there." Her tone turns sarcastic. "It'd be an awfully big coincidence if we landed on a twin planet. Or maybe you believe in small primates with typewriters."

"What?!" he barks, jerking his head up to stare at her in confusion. The movement increases the pounding at his temples.

"Daniel told me about it once," Vala continues airily. "He says there's a theory that if you have enough monkeys with typewriters—I understand that's some kind of primitive computer—eventually they'll become that playwright, Shake-it-something-or-other."

Jack's mouth drops opened in disbelief. Good _God! How does Daniel stand this woman? _ He's so accustomed to having Carter around to give him sensible and intelligent answers to his questions—even if he can't usually understand them! This is nuts! He gets to his feet and hefts his backpack onto his shoulders. The pain in his hip stabs sharply. He pauses to grab a couple of pain pills from his pack and swallows them quickly. Let's go," he growls.

"Where?"

"Back to the gate. That's where they'll look for us." He heads off the way they came.

She watches him disappear into the thicket, then rises, picks up her pack and follows him at a leisurely pace. Around the next turn she finds him waiting for her.

"Keep up, will you!" he snaps.

"Why? I know the way."

He stares at her. "We need to stay together," he says in a calmer voice. "There might be other, _unfriendly_ people here, or large dangerous animals."

"Nothing like that was found on any of our visits."

"And who's to say that didn't change? The town's not there, for cryin' out loud! Who knows what else changed!" He turns and continues down the path.

She glares at his back for a moment. However the truth of what he just said can't be ignored. She starts off after him, but stays several paces behind. _The man is totally annoying! Such a military martinet—always giving orders as if he were in charge of everything! _ She simply does not understand what Samantha sees in O'Neill. Oh, granted, he's quite good-looking—on the rare occasions when he smiles he's _almost_ as handsome as Daniel. But looks aren't everything, and as far as she's concerned, the General has very little else going for him.

"Try to walk quietly," he orders, throwing a look back at her over his shoulder.

She realizes that her annoyance is showing in her stride, she's been stomping through the brush. _Well, so what! There's nobody here. Just General Grinch up there!_ She drops back a couple of paces, but refuses to alter her gait. He can just get used to it!

He doesn't speak to her again before they arrive back at the Stargate. In the trees at the edge of the clearing, he pauses to look around and she continues past him, and out into the open. She hears him give an exasperated, wordless grunt.

She turns around and faces him with her hands on her hips. "What?!" she demands. "Am I supposed to stay behind you like an obedient wife or something?"

His eyes are hard as he glares at her. "Suppose there had been a platoon of Jaffa there when we walked out of the woods," he says softly. "It _is_ a Stargate, after all. How dead do you think we would be now?"

Her gaze falters for just a second, then she stiffens. "Well, as you can see, there's no one here but us ducks!"

Something flashes in his eyes, too quickly to identify. "That's 'us chickens'," he growls, and walks out into the clearing, heading toward the Stargate. "Try to dial the Alpha site," he orders.

"Do you ever say please?!" she snaps. "And we've tried the Alpha site. You said the problem is in this gate anyway."

He pauses. "It _may_ be this gate," he says carefully. "But we don't know that for sure. In the meantime, we keep trying. Understood?" He turns away from her. "I'll scout the edge of the clearing for a good place to set up a camp."

She sticks out her tongue at his back. "Do this. Do that," she mutters to herself. "Next he'll want me to chop the wood, and cook the meals."

"Don't worry—if we have to stay here very long you'll get to do your share of all that," he calls from several yards away, startling her. She hadn't realized how sharp his hearing is.

Vala watches him walk away. She heads to the DHD and inputs the symbols for the Alpha site, crossing her fingers as she presses the center crystal. With disappointment, she watches the gate fail to connect once again. Hopelessly, she tries Earth. Again the chevrons fade uselessly. She stares at the gate for a long time, then shifts her attention to the DHD, wondering if there is something wrong with the power supply, or if it's lightning damage, as O'Neill speculated. The dialing sequence is normal, it's only when she tries to engage power that it had fails. Samantha would have the thing torn apart by now, checking crystals and connections, trying options... She squats down beside the DHD, and opens the access panel, sliding the tray of crystals out so she can see them. She may not be on Sam's level with technology—but she can certainly tell whether crystals are burnt out or wires are disconnected. She sits on the ground for a better look.

"What are you doing?"

She's been examining the inside of the DHD for several minutes when Jack's voice startles her. He is standing over her.

"Looking to see if there's a burnt crystal or loose connection."

"See anything?"

"Everything looks all right as far as I can tell," she says. "The crystals are okay. I don't know if the connections are correct, but there aren't any loose wires." She pushes the crystal caddy back into the base, and closes the panel. He surprises her by reaching for her hand and pulling her to her feet.

"How much do you know about that stuff?" Jack asks.

"Not enough to fix anything complicated. I can reattach wires. Replace crystals if we had any spares. But I don't see any damage. There's no scorch marks—no sign the lightning hit the DHD. Of course, there could be something I wouldn't recognize," she admits.

He nods. "Okay. Well. At least you tried. I found a place for a camp," he says, changing the subject. "It's out of sight of anyone coming through the gate, but close by and sheltered."

She nods and glances at the gate again, then back to Jack, and finds him regarding her seriously, but without the anger she saw earlier.

"We'll figure this out," he says. "They'll find us, or we'll find a way home. We just have to work together. Come see the campsite."

The spot he's found is off at right angles to the gate. Forty or fifty feet away from the gate a rocky cliff rises sharply for 75 feet or more. An overhang in the face juts out several feet and beneath it is a shallow cave, large enough to set up the tent and still have room to move around. The overhang is enough to protect a campfire from rain. The entrance is largely screened by bushes, and is invisible from the Stargate clearing. The ground is littered with leaves and branches.

"Ugh!" Vala exclaimed. "You want us to live in a cave?"

"You have a better idea?" he asks, mildly sarcastic. "It's sheltered from the weather, it's out of sight of the gate. You're welcome to look around later for better accommodations, but right now we need a safe place. The days here are shorter than Earth days; about twenty hours instead of twenty-four—there's only about eleven hours of daylight this time of year, Carter said. That means it'll be getting dark again in about three hours. We need to set up camp, and take inventory of the supplies we have. We'll start by cleaning some of the rubble out of here."

"Suppose there's some animal that calls this place home?" she asks.

"I thought you said there weren't any animals," he jibes. When she only glares, he grins. "Maybe you'd better keep an eye out. You can chase them away if they come back." Her eyes narrow, and he relents with a chuckle. "I didn't see any sign that anything had bedded down here. I think we're fine." He drops his pack, extracts a pair of work gloves and starts dragging the largest branches out of the cave.

After watching for a minute, Vala begins to help.

With the two of them working together in only takes a quarter of an hour to clear the worst of the mess out the space. They rake out the old rotting vegetation, and then replace a few layers of fresh leaves as a cushion, and Jack spreads out the ground tarp, then pitches the tent as far back in the cave as possible. Next they go out to gather firewood, while there's plenty of daylight, and stack it on both sides of the tent. Jack builds a fireplace of rocks at the outer edge of the overhang, while Vala cuts fresh brush to augment the bushes that form a screen in front of the cave.

By then twilight is approaching. Vala wants to head back to the gate to try dialing once more. Jack is pretty sure it's fruitless, but he doesn't say anything and follows her to the clearing. The Stargate symbols fizzle and die, just as before.

"Okay," Jack says, not giving her time to be disappointed. "Let's get back and build a fire so we have light to check our packs. Tomorrow we have to see what we can do about food. There's a stream about thirty yards away which should do for water." He detours in that direction and fills the canteens, dropping a purifier tablet in each one.

They eat MREs, and spread out the contents of both packs on the tarp. There's enough food for about a week, if they're careful. Each of them has a change of clothes and extra socks. They have a well-stocked first aid kit. Carefully they lay out everything; Jack's Beretta, combat knife and Swiss army knife, Vala's three knives and zat, the P90s, all the extra ammunition, three high power LED lights with solar batteries, a small solar charger, canteens, camp dishes and cooking kit, water purifier tabs, a small hatchet, Firesteel fire striker, fish hooks and line, compass, small camp stove, string, a wire saw, sewing kit, duct tape...

Vala's eyes widen as Jack continues adding to the collection of items. "Now I see why my pack is so heavy!"

Jack glances at her. "Don't you pay attention to what goes in it?"

"I don't often see it all at once."

His eyes narrow. "Didn't Mitchell tell you to check and repack after every mission?"

"Did he say something like that?"

Jack's eyes are cataloging the supplies. "Where's your second light?" he asks.

"I lost one two missions ago."

"And you didn't bother to replace it?" he asks pointedly.

"I didn't think I'd need but one..." she says softly.

He just eyes her sternly for a moment, then goes back to assessing their stockpile. Recrimination is useless, and will only increase the unease between them. Fortunately for his blood pressure, nothing else seems to be missing. When both packs are empty and the items checked, they repack, leaving out food, first aid supplies and tools.

It's dark now and Jack builds up the fire. Vala starts to get to her feet and Jack sends her a questioning look.

"Got to visit the ponies," she says.

His brows go up. "What?"

"That's what Daniel says. He has to go see the ponies—or is it horses?"

Jack laughs. "Do you mean 'go see a man about a horse'?"

"Yes! That's it!"

"Don't go far." He's chuckling as she leaves. When she returns he says, "Tomorrow we'll scout out a latrine. Do you want first watch or second tonight?"

"I'll take first," she says. "I'm not sleepy."

"Okay. Wake me in four hours." He heads for the tent.

~x~

After he settles into his sleeping bag, Jack lies quietly awake. That idea in the back of his mind is still nagging him. And it's annoying, because he has no way to prove or disprove it. Carter would make astronomical observations and draw conclusions based on what she saw. Unfortunately, he hasn't got the equipment necessary for that. Maybe he's wrong, but he can't think of any other reason for the changes in the planet—the disappearance of the town and people, the abrupt change of season, the drastic differences in the vegetation. And then of course, there's a precedent...

He should have said something to Mal-Doran about it already. He actually hates to dash her hopes entirely. But they'll need a different plan if they're going to be here for as long as he suspects. He closes his eyes; he'll talk to her tomorrow.

~x~

Vala hears him moving around in the tent for a few minutes after he leaves, then it gets quiet. She takes her P90, crawls out to the entrance, and sits with her back against the rock wall. From here she can see the gate clearing—or could if it were daylight—and will know if the Stargate activates. There is also an opening in the trees above which allows her to look up at the night sky. She checks her watch and sets the vibrating alarm for four hours. The air is warm, and except for an occasional breeze, there's no movement in the darkness. Occasionally she glances around her, but mostly she looks up at the stars. They are very bright, and there are a lot of them, she realizes. This planet must be closer to the Milky Way's center, where star concentration is greater. She wishes the area was more open so she could get a better view.

At first it seems very still, but gradually she becomes aware of night sounds. Insects make a constant hum; now and then something that sounds like a cricket rises above the rest. She hears the call of several different night birds. One makes a hooting sound similar to Earth's owls. Another, a low, mournful call, not unlike the mak'ka of her home planet. She had once heard a call like it on Earth, when Daniel took her to visit friends of his who lived on a lake in Canada. He told her it was a loon.

'_I thought loonies were crazy people,' she'd said._

'_Loon,' he corrected. 'Actually the bird has no connection with that word. It comes from luna, which means moon. Because people used to believe the moon drove people crazy."_

Vala yawns and rubs her eyes. A glance at her watch tells her only a little over an hour has passed. She tries to find a more comfortable position.

She misses Daniel. He always stays up through part of her watch with her when SG-1 is off-world. She isn't entirely sure if it's because he wants her company, or he doesn't quite trust her not to fall asleep. _She's only done that a few times! _ It's just so boring sitting here, listening and looking!

A rustling in the undergrowth catches Vala's attention, and she sits up and swings her weapon in that direction. She switches on the light, and small pale eyes stare into it, frozen for a second, then vanish with the faintest of sounds. So there are small animals here, she thinks, turning off the light, and thinking of the timra from Qenjor 2 or bunnies from Earth.

She gets up from the ground and paces for a few minutes in front of the entrance, stretching her legs. At her movement the insects and birds nearby fall silent. After she's worked the kinks out of her legs, she sits down again on the opposite side of the cave entrance. There's a fallen tree trunk there, and she puts her back against it and stretches out her legs. When she rests her head back on the trunk, she had a fabulous view of the stars.

Gradually the sounds come back. The loon cries, the crickets and quieter insects resume their concert. Something flies overhead—for a few seconds wings are outlined against the starry background. A moment later a small, shrill shriek comes from a short distance to her right, and then the sound of a tussle, and the shriek is cut off short.

Once more the forest is silent for a while, but the noises return more quickly this time. She must have dozed, soothed by sounds that had become familiar...

Suddenly she is alert, startled by a new, and louder sound—the yowl of a much larger animal!

Vala is on her feet instantly. Weapon trained into the darkness, she scans the 180 degrees of forest around her. Even before she has completed the sweep, she is aware of another figure in the cave entrance. O'Neill crouches there, with his P90 also aimed into the forest.

The cry comes again, and this time there is an answering yelp, from a slightly different direction. After a few moments the pair speaks again, closer this time.

"Build up the fire," Jack orders. "They're coming this way."

Vala moves quickly into the cave and adds fuel carefully to the glowing coals. Dry leaves first and then some small sticks. Jack backs under the overhang, until he is even with the fireplace. As soon as the fire blazes up, she adds larger pieces.

The animals scream again, this time sounding as if they are just outside! Vala springs to her feet and swings the P90 into firing position. A low growl comes from the darkness, and Jack spins to the left, firing a short burst from his weapon. The animal howls—this time in pain! The cry is answered by a bellow of rage from the right, and a second later a large shape comes crashing through the brush barrier, over the fire and straight toward Vala!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter4**

**Again THANK YOU to everyone reading and reviewing this story. This is a short chapter, for the purpose of filling in some background. Hope it's not too boring!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Daniel left the control room after Teal'c and Mitchell returned, and headed back to his lab. On one section of shelves were the books and artifacts he had brought back from Peglea over the course of several visits to the planet. To distract himself Daniel took down and opened one of the Peglean books. He was translating it. The spoken Peglean language had not proved too difficult, and he was making progress on the writing. Vala had helped with the language. She had an ear for languages, and was able to converse with the Pegleans almost as quickly as he was. Daniel had spent more time on 224 than anyone else on SG1, and Vala was with him on nearly all of the trips.

Focusing on the book wasn't working. He was worried about Vala. Okay, so there—he'd admitted it! As much as she was a pain most of the time, she had grown on him. He was used to her being around. They had a kind of rapport that he enjoyed. Sure she was a little over the top with the flirting sometimes—but then, that was just her personality. She was over the top about everything! He wasn't sure how to handle that kind of thing. He'd never been good at dealing with boldness in people. Like Jack, for example—though in Jack's case, his apparent boldness was not always what it seemed, and hid a lot of other issues...

After some initial caution when the first SG team appeared through the gate, the Pegleans had proved to be friendly and welcoming. Amiable relations were quickly established.

Peglea II had a very interesting history; the inhabitants had not originated on this planet, but on another—the first Peglea. Many centuries ago, they told Daniel, an evil creature claiming to be a god had come through the stargate and conquered that planet. This evil 'god' called himself Shur-amiek. He possessed great powers and he brought with him a large army of soldiers. The natives were enslaved and treated brutally. The conquerors were smooth-skinned, and tall, like the Tau'ri, and they perceived the Pegleans as animals because of their slighter stature and abundant body and facial hair. They were worked to death in mines up in the mountains. The people died by the thousands.

The Pegleans rebelled, and although the rebellion was put down, a little more than two thousand of them managed to escape through the stargate. They moved from planet to planet for a long time, but finally ended up here, where they decided to stop running and make a new life. They named their new home Peglea II. For many years after they arrived, they guarded the gate carefully, but no one else ever came through.

The descriptions and drawings of the conquerors which had come down over the centuries convinced Daniel that Shur-amiek was a Goa'uld system lord. The Pegleans would not have been considered attractive enough to be used as hosts, and so they became laborers. Because of the extensive mining that Shur-amiek established, Daniel guessed that the original planet must have been rich in naquadah.

The refugees had first arrived on Peglea II two thousand one hundred forty-eight of the planet's years earlier. Sam calculated that that equaled slightly more than fourteen hundred Earth years. In the time since then, the people had spread out and populated the entire continent upon which the stargate was located. They called the land Alonn, and it appeared to be about three million square miles—a little larger than Australia. It was entirely surrounded by ocean, and no seagoing ship sent outward had discovered any land larger than small islands, nor had they found any other people.

Their science and technological advancement equaled approximately that of Earth's early twentieth century. There were basic motorized means of land transportation, and even the equivalent of a transcontinental railroad, but the settlements were small and rural. Long-range communication was possible through a system similar to earth's telegraph. The town near the Stargate, called Maylore was one of the largest, Daniel was told, with approximately ten thousand people. For the most part, the Pegleans led simple lives; most were farmers, merchants or craftsmen. Large-scale manufacturing was unknown, coinage was rare and barter the most common form of trade. Technology was a tool of need, rather than an end in itself.

It delighted Daniel to learn that the Pegleans led a rich artistic and cultural life. There were several libraries in the town, and literacy was almost one hundred percent. The early refugees had written and illustrated the history of their home planet. The people were talented artists and artisans, working in metal and stone, wood and fabric and clay. Everyday items were decorated with carvings and paintings. Negotiations had been opened to discuss trade.

The book in front of Daniel had been given to him by Soraan, one of the officials of Maylore. It was a history book, Soraan said, a copy of one of the earliest books written by the refugees. It was full of drawings as well as stories. Daniel thumbed through the first few pages, looking at the pictures. He was surprised to see a few drawings of hairless, smooth-skinned people, but assumed they were pictures of Shur-amiek and members of the Goa'uld entourage. There would undoubtedly be more information when he was able to translate the writing. He was about to try once more to concentrate, when SG1 was called to the briefing room. Hopefully Sam and Hailey had some good news. He put away the book and headed for the lift.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you again to everyone reading and reviewing this story!**

Previously, in Chapter 3;

The animals scream again, this time sounding as if they are just outside! Vala springs to her feet and swings the P90 into firing position. A low growl comes from the darkness, and Jack spins to the left, firing a short burst from his weapon. The animal howls—this time in pain! The cry is answered by a bellow of rage from the right, and a second later a large shape comes crashing through the brush barrier, over the fire and straight toward Vala!

**XXXX**

Fire erupts from both P90s in the same instant! The creature stiffens in mid-flight, its body convulsing, momentum still carrying it toward the spot where Vala is standing. In that split-second Jack slams into her, knocking her out of the path of the animal. Then they're down in a tangle of legs and arms, barely avoiding being struck by the large furred beast. Outside, the wail of the second animal rises again.

Shocked, Vala lies frozen for a few seconds—but Jack is up to one knee immediately, his weapon trained on the creature that now stretches its full length across the floor of the cave. When the thing does not move, he edges closer, then relaxes as he sees blood running from the bullet hole in its head.

"Are you all right?" he says to Vala, still watching the animal.

"Yeah," she responds after a moment.

"You're sure? I hit you pretty hard."

She's sitting up now. "Better than having that...ugh... that _thing_ hit me. Thank you."

The animal outside shrieks again, and Jack turns toward the entrance, firing once in the direction of the sound. There is a short yelp, and then a descending yowl. After a few seconds there's only quiet.

"I think you got its mate," Vala ventures softly.

"Hope so." He grabs his boots from the tent, and shoves his feet into them. "Stay here. I'll go out and check."

Her eyes widen. "You want me to stay in here with that!"

"It's dead. I want to make sure the other one is. I'll get this one out of here when I get back."

Vala nods, and moves as far from the carcass as possible, standing with her back to the cave wall aiming her P90 shakily at the animal.

Jack starts out into the dark, then pauses, looking at Vala. "Don't shoot me when I come back."

"Let me know it's you," she says.

"Yeh." He goes out, switching on the P90's light.

Vala's eyes stay glued to the body, her finger on the trigger of her weapon. The creature is cat-like, six feet long stretched out across the floor. Its fur is mottled in shades of gray. It has a short mane—more of a ruff—that stands up across its shoulders and continues partway down the center of its back. The snout is longer and narrower than cats on Earth, and six inch fangs protrude from its upper jaw. Two claws on each front paw are unusually long, about three inches. A liquid substance seems to be oozing from the base of each claw, coating the length. The smell coming from the beast is disgusting—putrid and evil. Vala tries to back further against the wall.

It seems to her that a long while passes before she hears Jack's voice from the darkness. "I'm coming in."

"Good!"

He steps into the firelight, and immediately wrinkles his nose. "Well, that's unpleasant."

"Did you find the other one?"

"Yes. It's about forty feet into the woods, dead. Female. Smaller than this one, but still pretty nasty." He peers at the one on the ground. "This one's male. A hunting pair I assume. Saber cats. You stand guard. I'll drag this one out." He sets his weapon against the wall, and dons his gloves.

Vala steps out under the edge of the overhang. "Be careful. I think those long front claws may be poisonous. There's something on them."

He looks closer. "I see what you mean." He grabs the back feet, and maneuvers the big cat's body around the fire and out into the darkness, continuing until he has taken it ten yards away. He returns to the cave, dropping his gloves by the entrance. "I don't think anything else will bother us with that smell around. I'll take watch now. Just let me get some clothes on." He has stripped to t-shirt and trousers for sleeping, and now he heads toward the tent.

She glances at his back as he passes her. "Your shirt is ripped."

"What?"

"On your back. I think there's blood." She steps closer. "Pull it up and I'll take a look." He raises the shirt to his armpits and she looks closer. "There's a cut." It's not very deep, about two inches long, between his spine and right shoulder blade, a third of the way down his back.

"I don't feel anything," he says.

"That's not good." She frowns. "There's an animal similar to this on Khen'ai. Its claws are poisoned. They also have an anesthetic, so their prey can't tell they've been clawed, and don't clean it until it's too late." She presses a nail lightly into his skin about an inch from the cut. "Can you feel that?"

He shakes his head. "Nope."

"There's antiseptic and antibiotic cream in the first aid kit. I'll take care of it for you."

He stands still while she cleans the scratch, applies the cream and put on an adhesive gauze pad. "Done," she says.

"Thanks." He pulls down the shirt, and turns around. "Glad you were paying attention. I'll grab my clothes and then you get in there and get some sleep."

In her sleeping bag, Vala closes her eyes thinking she will never be able to fall asleep, but when she opens them, daylight is brightening the interior of the tent. She pulls her clothes on quickly and crawls out. Jack's making coffee on the little camp stove.

"Good morning," he says. He pours a cup of coffee for her and starts to hand it to her, but with a wince switches the cup from his right to his left hand for the stretch.

"What's wrong?" she asks as she takes it.

"Nothing."

"General!"

"My shoulder and back are stiff," he admits.

"Let me see." She puts her cup down and moves over behind him. "I'm going to lift your shirt." She does so, and then carefully removes the bandage. The cut is puffy and oozing, and the skin around it is red. "It looks like you got some of the poison. I'll put some more cream on it and I think you should take a couple of the antibiotic tablets."

"It's just a little stiff," he objects. "We should save those for something serious."

"_This_ could be serious! The cut is swollen and it's red all around it." She presses her nail into his skin as she did the night before, and this time he stifles a yelp. "See," she says. She gets the first aid kit and finds the bottle of antibiotic tablets, holds out two of them. "Take them," she orders.

"Does it say_ General_ anywhere on my uniform?" he growls. Nevertheless he swallows the pills with a gulp of coffee.

She reapplies cream and bandage to the cut, and afterward they eat MREs for breakfast.

"Obviously there are large, dangerous animals about," Jack says as they're eating. "That means we have to be much more cautious. We'll have to stay together. Even when we visit the 'ponies'."

"What?"

He smirks. "Don't worry, we can turn our backs."

"Well, that's just lovely," she grumbles.

"Would you rather be catfood?"

She doesn't reply.

After they eat, they drag the cat's carcass far from their shelter, in the opposite direction of the stream, and then go back and get the body of its mate and leave it with the first one. Next they find a spot about ten yards from the cave, again opposite the stream, and dig a latrine. After that they set about making the shelter safer. Jack cuts large solid branches from fallen trees, and they drag them back to the cave, where they use them to form a barricade across the opening. By the time he is satisfied with the result the sun has progressed well past the middle of the day.

"This is only temporary," Jack says, straightening and stretching. The action is quite painful to his back and he suppresses a groan. "Tomorrow we'll start finding straight logs to build a stockade. We can make a bigger space by building out from the overhang, and eventually putting a roof over the extension. But for now we need something that will keep those saber cats from getting in. Hopefully more of them won't be coming around right away. If this is the territory of the two we killed it may take a few days for others to move in.

"Before it gets dark we need to set some snares," he goes on. "There are small animals around that we should be able to catch. Our food supplies are going to run out quickly, and we have to replace them."

He leads the way into the woods, moving carefully and studying the ground for any evidence of paths that small creatures travel. "Near water is the best place to look," he says. They find what they hope is an animal trail leading to the stream, and Jack shows Vala how to make snares with their string. They set a dozen in the area.

"We could shoot game when we find it," he said. "But that would use up our ammunition pretty quickly. I'll make a spear with a straight piece of wood and one of our knives. And if I can find the right kind of wood, I can make a bow and arrows." He rises from setting the last snare and stifles another groan at the ache in his back. "It's late. Let's get back to the cave."

"What about trying the gate?"

He remembers then that he'd intended to speak to her about his troublesome idea, but he's too tired now to try and explain. The infection from the cat's poison has taken more out of him than he cares to admit. "It's too dark to be out. It'll wait until tomorrow."

Vala starts to object, but decides not to push it when she sees the exhaustion in his face.

Back at the shelter she builds a fire and puts water on to boil for tea, insisting that he sit. She gets out energy bars, and also two more antibiotic tablets, which he takes without objection. When he lets her change the bandage on his back, she's relieved to see that it does not look any worse. His skin is flushed and hot to the touch, and she silently hands him the thermometer strip. He rolls his eyes and lays it against his forehead. Sure enough, he has a fever, though not a dangerously high one. She drops a couple of aspirin into his hand.

"I'll take first watch again, if that's okay," she says as it grows dark.

Jack nods. "Wake me in four hours."

Instead of getting into the tent, he drags his sleeping bag out and beds down beside the fire, turning his back to the flames. His P90 is in easy reach.

Vala is not nearly so casual about her watch tonight as she was the night before. She puts on her BDU shirt and flak vest, makes sure she has her zat strapped to her hip, and her P90 with a full clip. She sits in the small opening they've left when strengthening the barricade, with her back to the fire and her eyes peeled into the darkness. Periodically she switches on her handlight and scans the forest. The small animals, insects and birds rustle, hum, chirp and hoot. The sounds are reassuring. A few times they quiet down momentarily and she is instantly alert.

Behind her Jack sleeps restlessly, his breathing shallow, occasionally giving out small sounds of discomfort. It is over an hour before he settles into a deeper, quieter slumber. She lets him sleep past his watch. He is breathing steadily and evenly at that point and needs the rest. She's not sleepy anyway. It's an hour and a half later when he grows restless again, and she calls his name.

He sits up and after a few minutes adds wood to the fire and then comes over to sit beside her. "You didn't wake me," he accuses.

"It was only an hour or so," she says. "I was wide awake." In the firelight, she can see that the fever flush had faded. "How do you feel?"

"Better," he says. "Thanks. But don't do that again."

She doesn't answer, just leaves him at the shelter entrance, crawls into her sleeping bag and falls asleep instantly.

The smell of coffee wakes her again the following morning. She emerges from the tent to find Jack sitting on a small log, writing in a notebook which is balanced on his knees.

"What are you writing?" she asks, pouring herself some coffee.

"Starting a journal. To keep track of the days, and record what we're doing—what we find. Things like that."

"Good idea," she says.

"Daniel or Carter always do it when we're on a planet for more than a day." He finishes his entry and closes the book. Both pen and book go back into the pocket of his pack. "Daniel's notebooks are always tomes." He grins at the thought. "I think he's described every stone we've ever come across. And I can't even read Carter's, the words are so long! Can you draw?"

"Somewhat," she admits. "Why?"

"We might need to add sketches of things at times. And I'm not very artistic. Daniel's the artist. Carter's not bad, but he's really good." He reaches over to refill his coffee cup.

He feels distinctly better today than he did the night before. The fever has gone and Vala says the redness has faded from around the cut and it has started to scab over. However, she insists that he take the antibiotics for at least one more day.

There are two small tan-colored animals in their snares this morning. They are furry things that look sort of like earth rabbits with shorter ears. After resetting the snares, Jack takes them down to the stream and cleans and skins them quickly, then rigs up a spit over the fire to roast them on. The flavor is odd but not disagreeable. He notices that Vala does not hesitate to bite into the meat.

He finishes his portion and waits for her to be done. She swallows the last of the meat and gathers the bones into a small pile with his.

"Let's go try the gate," she says.

"There's no point. It won't work."

She looks at him, a little surprised at the blunt statement. "What does that mean?"

"It mean we aren't going to be able to connect with the SGC—because the SGC isn't there."

"What?" She frowns. "What's happened to it?"

"Nothing. Something's happened to us."

"Yeah. We're stranded here! We need to get back."

"It's more than that." He tries to explain. "You know that storm, and the lightening strike. I think it messed with the wormhole... caused it to... I think somehow the stargate has thrown us back into the past!" He waits, but she says nothing, merely stares at him without comprehension. "It's the only thing that explains it all," he continues. "You know—the changes. The town and people disappearing. The season's are different. I didn't notice at first, but there's more daylight than before—at least an hour. The overgrown vegetation. And the trees. There are different kinds of trees... I think we're somewhere in the past."

She is staring at him doubtfully. Then she laughs. "That's crazy! The gate can't do that! Where did you get that idea?"

"It's happened before."

"Impossible!" she exclaims.

"You haven't read all the mission reports, have you? And Daniel hasn't told you about that one."

"What?" She takes in his expression. "You're serious, aren't you?"

He nods. "Afraid so. On a mission in 1999 we went through the gate and ended up thirty years in the past." He quickly outlines the things that happened to the team in 1969. "We managed to get back," he concludes, "but only because General Hammond had given Carter a note before we left with the times of the solar flares."

"You met General Hammond in the past?"

"Yep."

"So he knew this was going to happen?"

"Yep."

"Wow. That was lucky! What were the chances of actually meeting someone you knew?!"

He laughs. "Luck had nothing to do with it." At her puzzled expression, he goes on. "Well, think about it! What would you do if you met somebody from the future who said they know you thirty years from now?"

It only takes her a second to get it. "Oh. Of course. I'd do everything I could to make it happen! So he must've made sure he would be in command of the SGC." She grins almost gleefully. "Did you tell him about the gate?"

"Yeah. Well... not exactly. I told him not to turn down an assignment to Cheyenne Mountain in 1997." Jack appears faintly abashed. "Carter warned me not to say anything... but I did it anyway. Like you said—I had to make sure things worked out. Don't tell Carter."

She looks around the cave, and her expression grows serious again. "I don't think there's any danger of that right now."

He sighs and leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "We _will_ get home," he says quietly, confidently.

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading! **

**I'm going to be taking a break from writing for 2 or 3 weeks. My daughter and grandson are coming for a visit, and we don't get to see them very often! So I'll be concentrating on them while they're here.**

**I'll be back.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to everyone who's reading this story! Also thanks to those who wished me a happy visit with my family! We had a great time—it just should have been longer!**

**ALSO – Please don't let my muddled explanation of wormhole physics/time travel distract from the story! I'm not well enough versed in science to come up with a logical explanation. And of course this is sci-fi, so it really doesn't have to be logical, hmmm?**

**XXXXXXXXX**

Mitchell and Teal'c had finished with their post-mission medical, and now were seated at the briefing room table with Daniel, and General Landry. The two of them had been brought up to speed on the current predicament. In the meantime Sam and Hailey had continued to investigate the idea that Hailey had mentioned earlier. Now the two women entered the briefing room, and joined the others around the table.

Hailey outlined her theory. "On previous visits to Peglea II, SG teams made a number of astronomical observations, and noted that the sun is in a period of very high solar activity," she began. "That means there are frequent and powerful solar flares produced. The path of the wormhole between Earth and Peglea passes very near that system's sun." Hailey paused and glanced around the table. "We all know what happened when Earth's sun flared at the same time a wormhole was passing near it. The wormhole was turned back on itself, and SG-1 was sent thirty years into the past. If 224's sun happened to flare at the right moment, something similar could have happened to General O'Neill and Ms. Mal Doran."

Staring at her in shock, Daniel was the first to speak. "You think they may have ended up back on 224, _sometime in the past?_"

"That's right," Sam replied to Daniel's question.

"If that's so, why weren't all of you sent back?" Mitchell asked.

"It was probably a matter of timing," Sam said. "When the wormhole opened, Daniel and I were near the gate and Vala and the General were all the way across the clearing. General O'Neill signaled for us to go ahead and we entered the gate immediately, while it could have taken them as much as half a minute to get there. By then, Daniel and I were already in the gateroom."

"So it would have happened after we exited," Daniel concluded.

"Correct," Sam said.

"Why were they not with you?" Teal'c asked.

"Something was going on between Vala and one of the Pegleans," Sam said. "She was being pulled away toward the woods. General O'Neill had gone to help her. It delayed them. When we went back to 224, one of the women told us she saw Vala and the General enter the event horizon several moments behind Daniel and me. She also said the gate was struck by lightning immediately after that."

"The lightning caused the gate to disconnect," Hailey picked up the explanation. "The free end of the wormhole would have been searching for somewhere to discharge its energy. In addition to that, the flare would have caused it to turn backwards in time. And since there aren't any Stargates nearby, it could have reconnected with the 224 gate sometime in the past."

"Wow! So both of those things were going on," Mitchell exclaimed. "How far into the past?"

"We don't know." Sam shook her head. "The lightning discharged a huge amount of energy into the gate. It could be a very long time."

"Is there any way to determine if there was, in fact, a solar flare at that time?" Teal'c asked.

"Atmospheric sensors were placed on the planet during one of the early visits," Hailey said. "Those might have picked up something that would help. Solar flares send out waves of heavily charged electromagnetic radiation. That could pinpoint the time of any recent flares."

"Oh, goody. Magnets," Daniel muttered. "Jack'll be tickled." He grimaced. He'd been around Jack too long!

Sam sent Daniel a sympathetic look before she turned to Landry. "Sir, permission for SG-1 to return to 224 and retrieve the data from those sensors."

"Granted, Colonel."

"I'd like to take SG-5 and -7 along, sir. The sensors are spread out over a large area. Retrieving them will go faster with help."

Landry nodded his agreement.

**~x~**

Thirty minutes later Daniel watched from the control room as the teams stepped through the wormhole. After they were gone, he wandered out in the corridor, and up to his office. Sam said it would take most of a day to retrieve the data chips from the sensors, as they were scattered over a widespread area, some of them several miles from the Stargate. Daniel sighed. He wished he could have gone with his team.

He picked up the book he'd been working on earlier and continued with the translation. The beautiful b illustrations in the book were engrossing; he found himself ignoring the writing and studying the numerous pictures. Every third or fourth page held an illustration. They showed scenes of life for the Pegleans in the early years of their settlement on the planet. There were depictions of various buildings in the town. One close-up drawing was of a water-wheel, evidently made to power some type of machinery; Daniel tried to make out what the machine was, but the picture wasn't detailed enough.

By the time the SG teams had visited, the planet had progressed well beyond the stage of using water-wheels for that kind of power. There was now an electric power plant down-river from the town; it was situated in a narrow canyon where the water was swift enough to turn turbines with sufficient force to generate electricity for the area. The system produced enough power to run basic lighting, heat and cooking in most buildings.

Daniel's attention returned to the illustrations. On the page before him was a colored picture of a garden. It was a large garden, a field, actually. In the front was something low-growing that might have been beans or a similar vegetable; and behind that were rows of tall, long-leafed stalks. Almost like corn. He remembered eating something there that reminded him a lot of cornbread. He supposed it wasn't too surprising to think that planets with similar climates would evolve similar plant life.

There were scenes showing what he assumed to be historical events; the signing of what may have been some sort of treaty—perhaps it was something like the Mayflower Compact—the agreement among the early settlers of Massachusetts to obey the laws and support one another in the New World. The Peglean refugees may have made a similar agreement.

Shaking his head he stopped thumbing through in search of pictures, and turned to the beginning of the book once again. He really should get back to the translation instead of making guesses based on the pictures!

**~x~**

It was thirty-six hours before the SG teams returned. Colonel Mitchell and Airman Wilson from SG-7 were injured. There had been another violent storm and both men were struck by flying debris. Mitchell had a slight concussion and Wilson a broken wrist. Apparently this was a very stormy season on Peglea. The teams had waited for the storm to subside, not wanting to chance another lightning strike on the gate.

Carter and Hailey vanished into the science labs with the data chips, and, along with several other scientists, began analyzing the information stored on them. It didn't take long before they found what they were looking for.

General Landry, Colonel Sharp, and Teal'c arrived in the briefing room to hear Sam and Hailey's report. Cam was still in the infirmary, and although Daniel had been paged, he had not yet appeared.

Sam didn't waste any time imparting their information. "It looks as if the atmospheric record supports Captain Hailey's theory," she began. "The timing of one particularly strong EM burst hitting the planet suggests that the Peglean sun flared at just about the time General O'Neill and Vala entered the gate."

Daniel arrived as she was speaking, and took a seat at the table.

"How certain are you about the timing, Colonel?" Landry asked.

"We believe it's better than a ninety-six percent probability, sir," Sam replied. "It takes solar radiation 12.564 minutes to reach Peglea. With that we can extrapolate that a flare occurred on the sun within 2 seconds of the moment we think they entered the wormhole."

There was silence around the table. "Okay," Col. Sharp said finally. "So how do we figure out where—or rather when they are? Are they in the past or the future? And how far?"

"There's no science that supports the possibility of the wormhole being able to travel into the future," Sam said. "I think we can assume they're in the past. At this point, I don't even have a guess how far."

"I'm pretty sure we can eliminate the last 78 years," Daniel said. When several curious gazes turned his way, he continued. "The first thing they'd have tried to do would be dial home. The Stargate was uncovered at Giza in 1928. Since then it's been in labs and storage facilities—and of course here since 1996. None of those places would have prevented it from activating. If that had happened—well, we'd have heard about it. It would have been in the records somewhere. If Jack and Vala came through during those 78 years they'd have found a way to leave us a message."

"Yes, I'm sure they would," Sam agreed.

"How do we determine where in the past they are, then?" General Landry asked.

Hailey and Carter glanced at one another. "We don't know the answer to that yet," Sam admitted.

"Even if we locate them, can we get them back?" Sharp wanted to know.

"That's actually easier than finding them," Sam said. "We can get the jumper with the time travel device from Atlantis, and someone to pilot it—probably Colonel Sheppard. But we have to find them first." She glanced around the table. "Anybody with any ideas—no matter how far-fetched—please don't hesitate to say something."

The room was quiet, as they all simply gazed at one another without a clue.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	7. Chapter 7

**I made a mistake in the previous chapter. I had Carter say the Stargate can't be used to travel to the future. Obviously, SG1 did exactly that when they returned from 1969! Thank you to DeniseM for catching me. I goofed and I can't really fix it, so I'm just going to ask your indulgence, and move on. That method wouldn't help Jack and Vala because they can't predict solar flares.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not a botanist. I do have a garden and the info about vegetables and plants in general in this and later chapters comes from that experience. **

**I hope your enjoy!**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

**~Exile, day 3~**

"You do realize that we're a very long way back in time, don't you?" Vala asks as they put out the fire and get ready to go to work.

"Yep." He checks the P90s for ammunition, and pulls on his flak vest. It's the closest thing they have to protective clothing, in case something happens—such as being attacked by another of those saber cats!

"The Pegleans came to this planet fourteen hundred earth years ago, and they're not here yet," she continues.

"Yes, I know. And the Stargate on Earth was buried when Ra left five thousand years ago. We have to assume that's why it won't connect. We've landed sometime in the 3600 years between the time the gate was buried and the arrival of the Pegleans."

They meet each other's eyes for a moment before Jack gives a little smile and tilts his head toward the woods. "Let's get started."

Vala is mostly quiet for some time after that.

They spend the day cutting logs to build the stockade. By nightfall they have felled two trees and cut them into five logs. Jack figures it will take eighteen to twenty logs to complete the barrier—that means at least three more days of cutting.

They retrieve two 'rabbits' and one squirrel-like animal from the snares and cook the evening meal after dark. Jack offers to take first watch. Exhausted, Vala simply thanks him and crawls into her sleeping bag.

**~Exile, day 8~**

It is the eighth day before they finish the stockade wall. It consists of twenty-two logs, eight or nine feet long, with one end buried in the ground so that they stand vertical, side by side. They have chopped the upper ends into rough points. It reminds Jack of forts in old Western movies. On the outside, two thirds of the way up they have angled sharpened branches downward to try and discourage the animals from climbing the walls. They use vines they've pulled from trees to tie the logs together and stabilize them. The shape of the wall bows out in an arc from one side of the cave opening almost to the other. Out of smaller logs, they have fashioned a door, which can be lashed in place over the opening.

That building the wall requires longer than Jack's estimate is really no surprise. The business of survival keeps interrupting. Finding food is the major problem. Their snares yield a steady, if meager, supply of small game. Their survival kits include packets of seed—squash, beets, carrots, turnips, beans, peas, corn, a few seed potatoes—but preparing a garden takes time, and growing it even more time. Still the idea is on Jack's mind since he does not know how soon the season will change again, and warm weather is obviously the best growing time.

Once the wall is done, Jack makes the garden their next priority. He picks the sunniest spot in the Stargate clearing and sets about getting rid of the grass and brush is that area. The small shovels they carry in their packs don't make the job easy. He starts by cutting the brush down to ground level. Then they dig out roots and sod, shaking the dirt back onto the ground. After two full days' work, they have cleaned out a plot less than ten feet square.

**~Exile, day 10~**

After carefully counting out the seeds, Jack plants about one quarter of their supply. He does not want to take the chance of losing most of their stock if a disaster strikes—a flooding rain or the onset of cold weather. Around the plot they build a fence of sticks and closely woven vines. It would not deter a large animal, but it should keep out the small ones most likely to eat the young shoots. It becomes part of their routine to check the garden every morning and evening.

**~Exile, day 14~**

Vala thinks of Daniel as she falls asleep each night, remembering the exasperation and confusion he often displays when she is near him. He truly does not know how to react to her, and she finds this endearing. He tries to avoid her and keep her away, but under it all is his innate kindness—the thing she loves most about him (well, maybe there are other things)—which makes him incapable of inflicting hurt by rejecting her outright.

**~Exile, day 24~**

Their days fall into a pattern. After taking care of personal needs, they check the perimeter around the shelter. They've cleared a space around the opening of the cave for about twenty yards, taking down brush and tall grass, creating a kind of safety zone where they can see anything approaching. Next they walk their snare lines. Anything that has been caught is cleaned and placed in a cache that Jack has built into the back wall of the cave, where it is cool, and blocked off with rocks. Snares are reset as they go. After that they go to the gate clearing to inspect the garden, spending a few minutes pulling out weeds and checking carefully for animal tracks or breaks in the fence. Two weeks after sowing, there are a few small plants up—beans, peas, carrots. They are watching closely for the others.

The days have been getting steadily warmer, which is very encouraging. It means they are heading into Summer, not out of it. The temperatures rise into the low 80s during the day, and there are nearly fourteen hours of daylight now.

By the time they are finished in the garden, it is always near mid-morning, and they return to the cave for the first meal of the day. With careful rationing they were able to stretch their supplies until the sixteenth day of their exile. But that is all gone now, so for the first meal they take half of the meat store from their cache to cook over the fire. The rest will be saved for the evening meal. They have cut back to two meals a day.

Every few days they wash clothes in the stream, weighing them down with rocks and letting the current agitate away the dirt. They bathe in the middle of the day, when it is warmest because there is less chance that predators are out hunting. They stand guard for each other.

Jack has started making weapons in order to conserve their supply of ammunition for the P90s and the Beretta. The power source for the zat will last for years if they are careful. He's made them each a bow, and he is showing Vala how to make arrows. They've found enough flint in the rocks at the base of the cliff to make a few arrowheads. It's been quite a few years since Jack learned to work flint, and he's out of practice, but the last couple of arrowheads came out very well. They've also fashioned spears from straight pieces of strong ash-like wood. Jack's combat knife and Vala's dagger are the points for now, until they can make flint ones.

Jack intends to build a cabin, and he works on this sometimes in the late afternoons. It will take a long time; so far he has only leveled the ground for the foundation logs—not an easy task without a transit or other tools. The wire saw they have is not going to last forever, and he has been searching for a large enough piece of flint which can be sharpened into an axe head. Whenever possible he uses the small hatchet from his kit, but while it works for firewood, it lacks the weight needed for heavier jobs.

**~Exile, day 30~**

The work is endless—run snare lines, dig, chop, build, carry water, carry firewood, make weapons and tools, tend the garden—weed, water and plan for the harvest and how to preserve their food. All the while keeping careful vigilance for any danger that may approach.

Every night they crawl into their sleeping bags exhausted. Thankfully the stockade and the system of alarms they have set mean it is no longer necessary to stand night watch. Vala can sleep for six or seven hours straight, otherwise she thinks she would collapse into a useless heap.

Jack pushes and pushes and pushes some more, and every day his expectations for what they should accomplish seem to grow greater. When they fail to meet those expectations—and inevitably they do—he is furious and disappointed. She responds in kind and they snarl and snap at each other. They are both angry and frustrated and there is no one else to blame so they take it out on each other. He finds fault with everything she does. She retaliates with a caustic wit which cuts him down at every turn.

Despite their mutual antagonism, they somehow manage to work together, and slowly they grow accustomed to each other.

She is shocked the first time she realizes she has actually laughed at one of his bad, sarcastic jokes. She stops what she is doing and looks at the man for perhaps the very first time. She sees the lines in his face, the determined set of his jaw, the real humanity in his eyes.

He catches her look and frowns. "What?" he demands.

"Nothing," she says after a moment.

"You gonna stand there all day for nothing?"

"No," she replies. She turns back to her task, but her thoughts are preoccupied now as she considers just who and what Jack O'Neill really is. He is a man who takes his responsibilities seriously, and who believes he is responsible for the welfare of everyone around him. In this case, that is her, and he is doing his best to take care of her. Suddenly she sees his demands and impatience in a different light. The high expectations he has are of himself. He is afraid he will fail.

When they argue again a few days later, he breaks it off abruptly. He puts down the tool he is using and sits on a fallen log. "We can't keep doing this," he says.

She looks at him and waits.

He presses his palms into his closed eyes, and then slowly drags his hands down his cheeks, tangling his fingers in his beard. He has given up shaving and there is even more grey in the whiskers than in his hair. He turns and looks at her. "We may be here a long time. Alone. We can't keep beating each other up."

The corner of her mouth twitches. "Oh, I don't know," she says. "Don't you think it's kind of 'us'?" Her fingers add quotes around the last word.

He stares at her in shock.

Her smile is small, but it's genuine, and amused. After a few moments he gives her a tiny answering smirk.

Things are a little easier between them after that. He keeps his temper in check most of the time. She gives the work her best effort, and does not try to antagonize him—well, only just a little! They don't talk much, but when they do, both make the effort to be civil.

**~Exile, day 58~**

They rise and eat their morning meal early today. One of the packs is already stocked with the first aid kit and some tools and extra ammunition; they add a food package. They're going to explore some of the landscape. So far, they've only been as far as the site where the Peglean town will someday be located. Today, they're heading beyond that, up the river which runs through the wide valley. It means climbing into the hills, but there is a ridgeline visible from the trail above the valley which Jack thinks may give them a view of more of the surrounding geography. In the second pack they put the ground cover and tarp—in case they have to spend the night, they will have shelter.

The track to the town site is familiar, but beyond that, they are breaking trail and it is slow going. By midday they have only reached the base of the climb that will take them to the ridge.

"Do we keep going?" Vala asks as they pause for a short rest and a drink.

"Two hours," he says.

"What?"

"We'll keep going two more hours. It won't get us to the top, but we should be able to see more of the surrounding country."

She nodded. "Okay." In the past weeks she's reluctantly learned to trust Jack's instincts, his aptitude for tactics and his survival skills. His plans of action are almost never wrong.

Two hours later they find a clearing on the side of the mountain which gives them a long view back where they have come from. The valley where the town will be is at the base of the lower hills they've already traversed. With their eyes they follow the course of the river, rushing down past the place where they stand, winding through the hills, flowing broader and straighter across the valley, and then into the forest.

"Oh, look! There's the Stargate!" She's somewhat surprised that they can see it, the forest around that area is so thick. The river runs about a kilometer to the left of the gate—southeast—and continues toward the south, where the forest ends a half dozen kilometers past the gate, and an expanse of open grassland begins.

Jack sits down on a rock and takes out their journal and a pen. He opens a blank double-wide page and starts sketching a map, charting the landscape from the ridge behind them as far as the edge of the grassland. Looking to their left and right, he adds in the details that they can see; to the east, beyond some low hills is a large irregular-shaped lake, with more hills beyond that; to the west, there is more forest and fewer hills until sight fades out in the distance.

While he is mapping, Vala checks around the area, looking for anything interesting, especially plants that they may be able to use for food. She gathers a few samples and stores them away in the pack.

Vala peeks over Jack's shoulder as he finishes the map. Proportions, locations and details are all perfect. She holds back a snarky comment about his crude drawing! He closes the book and slips it back into the pack, catching a glimpse of the grin on her face.

"What?" he demands.

"Nothing," she says. "Nice map." She looks around at the view. "It's beautiful up here. Next trip out, we could try and find that lake."

"Good idea." He glances at the sun, which is at about three o'clock. "We'll be home before dark." He takes the package of food from his pack and offers it to her.

They eat in silence, letting their eyes wander around the landscape. There's still almost no small talk between them, only what needs to be communicated. But at least they don't snipe at each other as they did in the beginning.

"Ponies," Vala says—it has become their code for a relief break—and indicates the nearby trees.

Jack scans the area carefully and then nods. "Go ahead."

She's back in three minutes and he takes a turn.

"Okay," he says. "Let's head down."

It was quite warm in the clearing, but is much cooler as they re-enter the forest, and start downhill beside the river. Jack follows the trail they made coming up, and Vala walks behind him. Her ears are tuned to catch any unusual sound, and every few minutes she glances behind to make sure there's nothing there. She can see Jack's head moving as he scans the forest ahead of them. They didn't see anything dangerous on the way up, but the shadows are starting to lengthen by the time they reach the last of the foothills, and night prowlers will be emerging. A couple of times she spots interesting plants along the river's edge and they stop to get a sample. They make very good time, and Jack picks up the pace even more on the last slope down into the valley.

Everything in the gate clearing is just the way they left it. They stop a moment, out of habit, to check the garden before heading for their camp. As they approach the stockade, he waves her off to his left and they approach from different angles—another cautious habit they have developed. Again, all is in order.

Vala sets about building a fire, and Jack sits down to make the day's journal entry before the light is gone. When the fire is going, she takes out the plant samples she gathered and spreads them on the tarp. From their supplies she takes a plant identification book. The SG teams have found the book to be useful, even off-world. Given similar climates, an oxygen-carbon dioxide atmosphere, and green plants which mean chlorophyll, some similar vegetation to Earth's is almost inevitable.

Vala pages through the book. One plant has a yellow flower which strongly resembles goldenrod. Another has an 'ear' much like rye.

"Goody," Jack jokes when she tells him. "We can sneeze and make whiskey."

She rolls her eyes at him.

**~Exile, day 87~**

Vala wakes up sweltering in the middle of the night. She crawls out of the sleeping bag, and lays down on top of it. She chose to bed down out in the uncovered portion of their shelter tonight, near the stockade wall, hoping there might be a breeze stirring. No such luck. She tries lying on her back, then on her stomach.

Her back aches. God! She misses Daniel! He would rub her back, and after a while, he'd give in and kiss her shoulders...

With a sigh she gets up quietly and gets a drink from her canteen. She pours the water in a thin stream over the back of her neck and down her back, wetting her tee shirt. She pours some on her head, into her hair and also down the front of her shirt.

"What's the matter?" Jack's voice comes out of the darkness.

"Too hot," she says. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

In the far distance there is the yowl of a saber cat. A second cry answers the first.

"You didn't wake me," he says. "That did. They've been calling for the past hour."

"How far away?"

"Four or five klicks, I think. They haven't come any closer. Yet." There is a rustling of covers as he gets up. He goes for water, and then comes and sits near her.

"Do you think they'll come closer?"

"It depends on whether they find enough prey where they're hunting now," he says. "They're south of us, in the direction of the grassland. There should be plenty of food there. If they do come this way, I'll go out hunting _them_. A pre-emptive strike."

Fortunately, in the next few days the cats come no nearer, and finally cease to be heard altogether.


	8. Chapter 8

**~7 Days after Jack and Vala's disappearance~**

Daniel walked into Sam's lab, and stopped, looking down at her blond head resting on the desktop. He wondered if she had even been home since Jack and Vala were lost. Probably not. Not that he could say anything. He hadn't left the Mountain either; but at least he'd spent some time in his on-base quarters, resting. He had a feeling she was spending twenty-four hours a day in her lab.

He sighed and sat down on the stool across from Sam. Until this happened, things had been quiet for the two months since Adria had ascended. The Ori seemed to have backed off from the Milky Way. No one was sure if that was a permanent situation, but as Jack had said, "We'll take what we can get."

Daniel knew that Sam and Jack had been seeing each other for the past few months. He'd overheard a couple of phone conversations on Sam's end. Jack seemed to be visiting Colorado more often than when he first went to DC, and Sam had been absent several times on weekends. He wished they'd confide in him—but he wasn't really upset, he was just happy to see his friends happy.

He thought of all the times in the past when one of them, Jack or Sam, had been lost, trapped, MIA. He remembered Sam's frantic efforts to bring Jack home when he was trapped on Edora. And Jack's perpetual state of near-panic when Sam and the Prometheus had disappeared. Those were the worst—but they hadn't been the only times. There had been so many close calls over the years...

And now, just when things seemed to be settling down, this had to happen.

Jack had only gone along on this jaunt for the fun of it. There was no special reason that his presence was required. Teal'c and Cam's business on Chulak had left the team short, and Jack decided to fill in. He'd been visiting the Mountain—visiting Sam, no doubt—checking in with Landry to see how things were going. Bored, probably, by the lack of excitement around the SGC. Well, he'd sure gotten his excitement! And created some for the rest of them, too.

He felt for Sam. Maybe more than he was willing to admit—because he refused to acknowledge, even to himself, how much Vala's disappearance was affecting him...

Forcing his thoughts away from his own feelings, he reached over and shook Sam's shoulder gently. "Sam," he said quietly.

She came awake instantly, drawing in a sharp breath and raising her head... "Ow... ouch..." She grabbed at the back of her neck. "Crap. Oh." She blinked and rubbed hard at the stiff muscles. "Daniel."

"Hi." He raised a hand in a small wave. "Sorry, Sam. I didn't mean to scare you. Figured that wasn't the best position to be sleeping in."

"Obviously not, judging by the way my neck feels," she grunted. "What time is it?"

He got up and circled her work table, until he was standing behind her, and began to massage her shoulders and neck. "Nine o'clock. Er... zero nine hundred, that is. Have you had breakfast?"

"Oh, that feels good! Thank you!" She frowned then, thinking of his question. "Don't think so. What day is it?"

"Thursday."

"Oh." She looked crestfallen. "Don't think I had dinner last night, either..."

"Were you here all night?"

She nodded. "Actually the last I remember, it was about twenty-two hundred hours... Guess I must've slept on my desk all night. No wonder I feel awful..."

He changed his grip and began to work on a different spot. "You can't do this to yourself, Sam. I'll tell you what—why don't you go to your quarters and get a shower, and I'll meet you in a hour for breakfast? Okay?"

"I really should get back to work..."

"Sam." He cut her off. "No dinner. No breakfast. Sleeping on a table. How effective can you be?"

"Right." She straightened a bit and he let his hands fall away from her back. "You're right, Daniel. I'll meet you in an hour. Thanks for the massage." She turned to look at him. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," he said. "And I _have_ rested. So I'll see you in the cafeteria." He kissed her cheek and moved away. At the door, he paused and looked back. She was still sitting at her table, staring at the computer. "Sam!" he said, putting a little oomph into his tone. "Get moving. Now!"

She dragged her eyes away from the screen. "I was just thinking..."

"No!" he interrupted. "On your feet. Shower. Breakfast. I'll drag you if I have to!"

"Okay... okay." She smiled and stood up, stretching. "Ow... stiff." After a moment she joined him at the door. At the lift they parted, as she got on to go up to her quarters. "I'll see you in the cafeteria," she promised.

**~x~**

Daniel watched the lift doors close and then turned down the corridor toward his office. He'd use the hour to continue working on his translation of the Peglean history. It was turning out to be more difficult than he thought. Although the book was several hundred pages long he suspected that the text was a 'condensed book' version of the original, designed to convey the basics without wasting space on details. The result was that many words or terms which would have been self-evident to a native speaker were abbreviated or eliminated altogether. References were made to events and people, but no explanation was given. It was as if someone had written a United States history stating, "After the Civil War, General Grant became President," but included no explanation of either the war or Grant. In addition, a text like this reduced Daniel's ability to extrapolate the meanings of words from the context. To say that he was frustrated with the task was an understatement.

He almost always found himself studying the pictures more than the text. They were fascinating in the amount of detail many of them had. He wondered if the pictures in the original book were the same. He's was going to speak to General Landry about visiting the planet again, to see if he could compare them.

In his office he crossed to his work table and sat down, pulling the book toward him. As he did so, his eyes fell on an object which had been hidden behind the thick tome. He reached over and picked it up. It was one of Vala's silver hair clips. He rubbed his thumb across the smooth surface of the clip, and suddenly felt a tightness in his chest. _Damn! It was getting harder and harder to ignore how much he missed her!_

**~x~**

The smile faded from Sam's face as soon as the lift doors slid shut. She was nowhere near holding up as well as she hoped it seemed to Daniel. There were simply no clues as to where they should look for Jack and Vala. The entire idea that the gate had transported them into the past was conjecture! There was no real proof! Sure, the solar flares were present, and the timing might work—but she was far from certain that that's what had happened. The wormhole may have collapsed while they were in transit... If that were the case, then Jack and Vala were gone.

Tears stung her eyes at that thought. She got off the lift at her floor and hurried toward her quarters before she met anyone in the corridor. She and Jack had only recently begun seeing each other, and now to have this happen!

She slipped into the door of her room, and closed it behind her. Dropping down on the foot of the bed, she let the tears fall.


	9. Chapter 9

**~Exile, day 90~**

The storm strikes suddenly, violently, during one of those hot, sweltering nights that have robbed them of sleep for the past few weeks. Lightning slashes across the sky, and rain pours relentlessly into the stockade.

Jack and Vala grab their bedding and retreat quickly to the back of the cave, finding a seat on the rocks that is slightly higher than the floor level. The wind shrieks and rocks the log wall. Outside, trees splinter and crash; one of them falls on the wall, and branches and debris shower down inside the shelter. Jack shoves Vala closer to the back of the cave, turning both their backs to the fury outside. He pulls her in front of him protectively, and yanks the tarp around them. There's nothing they can do except cower and wait.

Rain comes down in torrents, and soon the floor of the shelter is a muddy quagmire.

**~Exile, day 100~**

Jack stands watch as Vala bathes in the stream. Behind him, he can hear her splashing. It's midday, and the sun is warm, but the air is cool, and he knows she won't take very long. That last storm, ten days ago, seems to have broken the summer heat, and it's been distinctly cooler. He wonders if this is the start of the change of season.

They've been here one hundred local days. That's about fourteen earth weeks. He doesn't bother to split hairs and figure it down to the day—he could if he wanted, but it's not worth it—he just likes having an approximation.

He and Vala must have been listed as MIA by now. Gone, but not forgotten—he hopes. He shakes the thought out of his head. Of course, they're not forgotten! SG1 is doing everything they can to solve the problem. More important, Carter is doing everything she can! He hopes she isn't making herself sick in the process. He knows how she operates—full steam ahead and damn the torpedoes! No sleep, no food. Daniel and Teal'c better be watching out for her! He'll be on their case when he gets home if they're not!

It lifts his spirits a bit to think of home. Hot running water! Steak that he hasn't had to shoot himself with a homemade bow and arrow! Clothes that actually have some shape and color left! The two sets of BDUs they each brought along are looking pretty ragtag by now.

Let's see, what else does he miss most about home? _Now isn't that a no-brainer! _ Sam, of course...

And there goes his quasi-good mood. _Thinking of her as Sam is a mistake._ Missing her catches him off guard—the feeling hits him like a sledgehammer. He actually sags a little, as if punched in the gut. He doesn't let that happen very often—he can't afford to. He has to keep going. Stay strong. He has to make sure he and Vala are still alive when Sa—when _Carter_ figures it out and they come to get them!

_Yeah, just think of her as Carter_. Not that it's any less personal—any less _her—_than... her first name. Just that it's got the whole military thing attached to it. He thinks of Carter in BDUs, with a P90, going through the gate, or working on a doohickey in her lab, not... _otherwise. (in that blue dress, with the plunging back she wore to dinner...)_

He straightens and clears his throat, clearing his mind of the image... Deliberately doing a 180 sweep of the forest in front of him, concentrating hard on every tree and possible enemy hiding place—

"I'm done, General."

He jumps a foot, and turns around to find Vala approaching, wearing her BDUs with a solar blanket wrapped around her, her wet hair hanging to her shoulders.

She frowns. "Are you okay?"

He stiffens, gives her a lopsided grin. "Yep. Just fine. That didn't take long."

"Too cold," she says. "At least the sun's warm. Do you need me to watch for you, General?"

"No," he answers. "I'll wait til tomorrow." They start back toward the shelter. "And I think it's time you start calling me Jack, don't you?" he adds.

Her eyebrows go up and she smiles. "Okay. Jack. I can do that. Thank you."

"For what?"

"For letting me call you by your name—I guess. That's sort of a friendly gesture among the Tau'ri—is it not?"

"Yeah... well, Jack's easier to say than General. One syllable. I like short and simple." He feels a little silly, but it's the truth. Hearing 'General' always makes him want to jump to attention.

"One syllable. I see," she says, nodding. She grins. "Just don't _ever_ think about calling me _Val_."

He swivels his head to look at her, and then bursts out laughing. "Never in a million years," he promises. "You are definitely not 'Val'."

**~Exile, day 121~**

Summer is drawing to an end. The nights are cooler and the days shorter. Jack surveys their garden. Root vegetables have done quite well—carrots, beets, potatoes—and that's good because they will be easiest to keep through the Winter. Beans are still coming in from his second planting. Peas have gone by, but he's saving some for seed for next year. Winter varieties of squash are ready to harvest. The corn—an early maturing variety—has been harvested, and is drying. From the dried kernels they are grinding cornmeal and making a coarse kind of cornbread. Vala found a bowl-shaped stone in the stream, and with another smaller smooth stone they have a grinding mill.

They found more of the rye-like grain growing beyond the edge of the forest, and he has cleared another garden patch and seeded it, hoping it will be something like winter rye. Seeds have also been saved for Spring sowing.

On an excursion south into the grassland, they discovered there are antelope-like animals, the size of a very large dog, which are plentiful in the area. A hunting trip in that direction about every ten days has contributed greatly to their protein supply. They've found salt deposits by following the deer paths, so they can salt some of the meat to preserve it longer. Skinning the animals carefully, they are curing the skins with the salt. Jack plans on tanning them. _Buckskins!_ Jack thinks. Not actually a bad idea. And moccasins.

They have no idea how long Winter will last, or how severe it will be, so Jack has been digging a root cellar. He plans to make it bigger than needed for simply storing vegetables, so that they can use it for shelter if Winter is too cold. Vala cringes at the thought of living in even more of a cave, but they don't really have a choice. The cabin he is building is several months from completion and their stockade is not weatherproof, as the rains have proved to them more than once.

**~Exile, day 128~**

He's showing her how to knap flint to make arrowheads and knives. They've recently found a place where there's obsidian, which can also be used to make cutting tools. She's frustrated because the pieces aren't coming out the way she wants. He chuckles and assures her that she's doing fine—it took him a long time to get the knack, too.

**~Exile, day 141~**

The nights have cooled down enough that they have retreated to the tent for sleeping. The days have shortened to approximately ten hours of daylight, so they are forced inside the stockade earlier.

Jack has made a lot of progress on the root cellar. It should be finished in another few days. One section is for their food storage, the other for shelter. He is lining the walls of the living section with rock, and has built a fireplace and chimney in the end farthest from the food storage area. They should be able to move into it any time if the weather gets colder.

They build a fire and prepare their evening meal. Tonight there is fresh venison, as they returned from a hunting trip just the day before. There is also fried cornbread, and beans.

After they have eaten Jack takes out the journal and makes the daily entry by firelight. "One hundred and forty-one days," he says. "Nearly four Earth months."

Vala doesn't answer, but just sits staring into the fire.

When he's done with the journal, Jack is ready to sleep.

"I'm going to sit up for a little while and watch the fire," Vala tells him.

"Don't stay up too late."

"Yes, Dad," she quips.

Jack chuckles as he crawls inside the tent and into his sleeping bag. He falls asleep almost immediately.

He doesn't know how much later it is when he wakes. He's alone in the tent. The fire is still burning—he can see the light flickering on the tent wall. He pulls back the tent flap and can see that Vala is still sitting by the fire, her back toward him. She doesn't move as he pushes aside his sleeping bag and comes to the fire. He sits down beside her, with his back to the dying flames, so they are face to face.

"You all right?" he asks quietly.

It's a while before she speaks. She's sitting with her knees drawn up and elbows resting on them. Her hands are clasped together in front of her face. "Four months, Jack," she says softly. "It's been four months, and they haven't come for us."

"They'll come. Carter's pretty smart, y'know. She won't give up, and she'll figure it out."

"How are they going to get to us?"

"I've been thinking about that," he says. "The most likely way would be a jumper ship with a time-travel thingy installed."

"Those are the ships from Atlantis, right?"

"Right."

"But why haven't they come already? I mean—no matter how long it takes them to figure it out, couldn't they set the device to get here when we first arrived?"

"Uh..." Jack frowns, not sure how to answer that. "They don't know where in the past to aim for, Vala. _We_ don't even know when we are."

"Then there's no way they can find us!" She is beginning to sound desperate. "We could be anywhere—anytime... They're never going to find us!" She turns to him. "You knew this! That's why you've made us work so hard! We're stuck here, for the rest of our lives..."

"No! We _don't_ know that! _I_ don't know that..."

"Yes, you do!" There are tears in her huge violet eyes. Nevertheless, she glares at him accusingly. "You've known it all along! We're lost! We're hopelessly lost..." Her voice trails off and she starts to cry.

He moves closer and wraps his arms around her. "We'll be all right," he says softly. "Whatever happens—we can do this. Look what we've managed to do already..."

She cries hard for a few minutes, but his embrace is soothing and gradually she accepts the comfort. Her head is on his shoulder and his voice is a deep rumble against her skin. His beard tickles her. She closes her eyes and absorbs his nearness. Wow! He is an incredible hugger! His arms seem to envelope her completely and his hands stroke easy circles on her back. God! She has missed being held! And holding someone... She lets her arms slide around him, pulling him closer and turning her face into his neck; the skin of his neck is warm—and prickly where the whiskers grow. He smells like woodsmoke and evergreen and faint male sweat. She slowly relaxes and her tears dry.

He feels the tension in her body lessen as she leans into him, and her arms feel good around his waist... comforting. He allows his head to snuggle lightly into the curve of her neck.

For a long time they simply sit like that, drawing strength from one another's presence. At last she straightens a bit and he lets his arms loosen so that he is holding her lightly. She pulls away enough to look into his face.

He smiles. "Better?"

She stretches up and kisses him on the lips. The kiss is warm and too long for just a peck, but too brief for him to work out its meaning. When she leans back their eyes meet for a moment before she smiles. "Thank you," she says quietly.

"Anytime." He glances aside for a moment. "Think you can sleep, now? There's work to be done tomorrow."

"Isn't there always." The comment could have been sarcastic, but there's no edge in her voice, merely acceptance. "Yes. I can sleep now."

"Good." He drops his arms from around her, suddenly self-conscious that he hasn't already done so. "Let's get to bed, then."

They have been lying in their sleeping bags for about ten minutes, and he is almost asleep when there is a rustling sound from her side of the tent, and she speaks.

"Jack, we have to leave some kind of clues to help them find us."

Jack turns his head toward her. He can see her silhouette, she is propped up on one elbow.

"What do you suggest?" he asks. "We're talking about something that has to last for at least fourteen centuries. Not many things qualify. A pyramid maybe... that would certainly get Daniel's attention. But I don't think you and I can manage that alone."

"There has to be something we can do. That's why they haven't come yet—we have to stay long enough to leave something for them to find."

"What? Huh!" He blinks at that, not sure what she means, too sleepy to get into it now. "Okaaay. Let's think about it... tomorrow." He closes his eyes again.

"We know where the Peglean town is going to be. That should be the place where we put the message."

"Mmm..."

"It's got to be something the Pegleans won't destroy, or cover up. Something they'll want to preserve. Something in stone. That's it, Jack!" she says excitedly. "A message written in stone! Jack? Jack, are you awake?"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	10. Chapter 10

**~10 days after Jack and Vala's disappearance~**

Daniel knocked on General Landry's office door. After a moment he heard Landry call, "Come on in."

Pushing the door open, Daniel stepped into the room.

"Hey, Dr. Jackson. What can I do for you?" Landry sat back in his chair and regarded his visitor kindly. He'd tried to be understanding with the members of SG1. They'd clearly been distressed since Jack and Vala had been lost—he was not immune to the feeling himself.

Daniel walked into the office, and paused, obviously nervous.

"Sit down, Daniel. And tell me what's bothering you." Landry waved toward the visitor's chair which sat in front of his desk.

Daniel took the seat, but sat forward, just on the edge, not at all relaxed. "General. I'd like to request permission to return to the Peglean planet."

"May I ask why?"

"I've been studying a history of the Peglean people since they came to the planet. Uh... You do know that their ancestors were refugees from their home planet, which the Goa'uld had taken over?"

"Yes, I know that."

"Okay. Well. So the Pegleans are very culture conscious—I guess you could call it that. They've written a lot of history books. They're talented artists. Their books are beautifully illustrated with pictures showing their day to day lives and the changes through the years. You know the kind of thing I mean?"

"I think so."

"They gave me a book—a history of their people. Actually it tells the story of how and why they came to the planet. And how they settled their new home and prospered—it's very interesting, actually. There are lots of pictures. But what they gave me was a copy of the original book. I'd like to go back and see if they'll let me look at the original."

"Why?" Landry asked. "Don't you think this one is accurate?"

"I do. Yes. But it's... I guess the word is abridged. Lots of stuff is left out. The artwork is outstanding. But the text has a lot of omissions. Many of the illustrations are very intriguing, but they're not all explained. I'd really like to see the original."

"I see. What do you think is the significance of the original versus the copy?"

"Honestly, General, I don't know. I've been looking through the book, hoping to find some clue that will help us locate Jack and Vala. I know it's a long shot—but if they landed some time after the Pegleans settled there, they would have found a way to leave us a message. Maybe I'm grasping at straws..."

"Okay, Dr. Jackson."

"i'm not sure it'll help..."

"You can go, Daniel."

"I'm just hoping we'll find... Uh, what did you say?"

"I said you can go. Take SG1, and SG5 if you think you'll need them."

"Thank you, General!" Daniel was on his feet. "Thank you very much! I'm not certain—but maybe this can help..."

"Just go and find out whatever you can." Landry smiled at Daniel's enthusiasm. "Tell your teams to get ready."

"Thank you, sir. I appreciate this."

Daniel rushed out of the room, and Landry smiled a little. Maybe there would be a clue in the Pegleans' history. At any rate, SG1 needed a reason to be hopeful—hell, they all did!

**~x~**

Later that day, SG1 and SG5 were kitted up and waiting in the gateroom as Walter dialed Peglea II. Daniel led the way through the Gate. Behind him were Mitchell and Teal'c, and then three of the members of SG5. Hailey hung back with Sam, who had stood off to the side, watching the others go through.

"Colonel?" Jennifer Hailey asked. She sensed that Sam did not think this trip was worthwhile. "Are you ready?"

Sam glanced at the younger woman, and then started up the ramp. "I'm ready."

The two women entered the wormhole together.

They exited into a bright, sunny day on Peglea II. To their surprise, there was a very large crowd of people in the Stargate clearing, many of whom smiled and waved as the visitors arrived. All of the debris from the storm had been cleared away. Instead of cluttered with broken branches and trees, the entire area was now neatly mown and trimmed. The noise of happy voices filled the air, and there were smells of food cooking.

_It was a fair! _ Jen was entranced. Like one of those Renaissance Fairs that she'd heard about... The clothing was different of course, but the atmosphere, the colorful decorations, the music...

Still captivated, she stood looking around, a slow smile breaking across her features. Meeting Carter's eyes, she could see the same pleasurable surprise dawning there.

Glancing around, Sam saw the members of SG1 and SG5 nearby, watching the excitement. Cam was grinning. And Teal'c was speaking to some children who had approached him curiously.

Daniel and Colonel Sharp were talking with one of the town leaders, and Daniel turned to wave Sam over.

"This is a celebration of the day they arrived through the gate," he explained excitedly. "It's called _Camu-ara xol._ Which means something like 'safely at home.' It's the major holiday of their year. There are musicians, and there's a carnival, even!" He pointed to the far side of the gate, where colorful tents were set up. "They have performances representing the important events in their history." He indicated the man he'd been talking to. "This is Shavnon. He's one of the town officials. Kind of like a selectman. He's actually the organizer."

The man bowed to Carter and Hailey. "You are most welcome to observe." He spoke slowly, allowing Daniel to interpret. "I recognize you from your previous visit, Colonel Carter, Captain Hailey, although we did not meet. Please make yourselves at home."

It was evident that Shavnon had made the effort to some English words, as they were peppered through his greeting, though Daniel had to translate most of their conversation.

"Thank you," Sam replied. "That's very kind."

"Dr. Jackson was just telling me that you are still searching for your missing companions. Please let me know if I can help."

"Actually," Daniel said. "Maybe you could tell me who to see about access to some of your historical writings."

"Yes. That would be Dennon. He is another organizer of this event. He's the archivist for the historical library. He's probably here somewhere. I will inquire." He looked around at the crowd, as if searching for someone. "I will inform you when I locate him."

"Thank you. We appreciate that very much."

"You are welcome," Shavnon assured them. "Please walk around. See our exhibits. There are many stories that originated when our people first came to Peglea II. There are actors and artists here to demonstrate the stories." He waved toward the colorful tents scattered about the large clearing. "Each circus represents a different story or legend. There are..." He paused because the visitors from Earth were giving him a startled look. "What is wrong?"

"Did you just say 'circus'?" Daniel asked.

"Yes. It is our word for the structures of cloth that you see there." He gestured toward the group of brightly colored tents on the far side of the clearing. The visitors realized there were dozens of them.

"'Circus' is a word in your language?" Hailey clarified.

"Yes, it is," Shavnon gave a small, slightly uncomfortable, laugh. "Why?'

"I'm sorry," Daniel hurried to explain. "Circus is a word in our language, also. It means a special kind of pageant, or show, which usually happens inside these kinds of structures. There are animals, clowns, acrobats..."

"Clown! Yes," Shavnon exclaimed. "We also have that word. It is a funny drawing or a puppet that represents a person." He pointed to a large yellow 'circus' on the far side of the clearing. "I believe that is where you will find the clowns. There are several different characters, and they tell a story."

"In our language a clown is usually a real person, dressed in strange or funny clothes, with a painted face," Vic Sharp put in.

"These characters wear strange clothing also, and their faces are odd—without fur, like yours, but they do not look real. Please. Go and see for yourselves."

"We'll do that," said Daniel.

"Good!" Shavnon bowed slightly and smiled. "I have duties to attend to. And I will send Dennon to you as soon as I find him." He bowed again and left them, vanishing quickly into the crowd of people.

It was Hailey who spoke up. "Isn't it a little too much of a coincidence, that they have words in common with English, that even have similar meanings?"

"Daniel?" Sam asked.

"There are often words in different languages that sound alike..." he said. "But if Jack and Vala were here sometime in the Pegleans' past, it would make sense that some English words might get absorbed into the language."

"Maybe we're onto something," Sam said.

They looked at one another hopefully.

"Well, I'm going over and see those clowns he mentioned," Hailey said.

"Me, too," Sam agreed.

They crossed the clearing toward the yellow tent that Shavnon had pointed out, pausing here and there along the way to watch an acrobat or listen to the sing-song chatter of a food vendor. They passed a group of children laughing and pointing upward. When they looked up they saw that several cables were strung across the clearing, from tree to tree, about twenty feet above the ground. Small primate-type animals—similar to monkeys—were happily swinging between the cables, showing off for the audience below.

After a few moments they moved on toward their objective. There were greeters at the entrance to the yellow tent—a man and a woman, dressed in surprisingly earth-like clothing. The man wore blue trousers and a white, short-sleeved shirt; the woman had on a plain greenish dress and a necklace of large red beads. They both smiled and waved, inviting the visitors into the tent.

Daniel led the way, smiling at the man and woman as he entered, followed by the other three.

The interior walls of the tent were decorated with very colorful cartoon drawings of people and animal. It was dimmer inside, and they looked around, giving their eye a moment to adjust to the yellowish light. And then Sam and Daniel stopped and stared in shock.

Directly in front of them was a stage; the audience was seated on the ground facing it—a few adults and about two dozen Peglean children laughing and pointing and clapping.

Across the stage danced four large puppets, representing a man, a woman, a boy and a girl—evidently a family. But the puppets were not Pegleans— the faces, arms and legs of the whole group were entirely free of fur, and the father puppet was bald. They might have even looked somewhat human, if it were not for the bright blue hair on the mother puppet, and the fact that every one of them sported neon yellow skin!

**xxxxxxxxx**

**I decided the story needed a little comic relief. Hope the idea is as amusing to you as it was to me.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you for reading, and for all the great reviews you have left for this story! I'm so glad you've found it enjoyable. My apologies, but I've lost track of which reviews I have or have not responded to. If any of you did not receive a thank you please be assured that I read every one and am grateful to all of you. **

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**~Exile, day 621~**

They have been here alone for more than two planetary years.

Jack calculates that two years here is the equivalent of about sixteen Earth months. They've experienced the planet's seasonal cycle. A year is about 290 of the twenty-hour days. Winters are chill and wet, and last about ninety days. Summer is very warm and longer—140 days. Other than the storms, rain is infrequent in Summer, however water is not a problem. The level in nearby streams and rivers remains consistent through most of the year. They think the waterways must be fed by underground springs. The transition days of Spring and Fall are usually pleasant and sunny. They've kept up their journal/calendar scrupulously, and so far have found the weather patterns to be very consistent. Storms come in late Spring and early Summer, and again in the hottest days. Winter storms are rare, and it is not cold enough for snow—thank goodness!—but it is often wet and uncomfortable.

Lately when Jack takes out the journal to make an entry, he is aware that he will soon run out of pages. He started writing smaller a long time ago, and in a more abbreviated style, and he does not include as much detail. Each day is faithfully noted down, however, with a word or two about the weather, the gardens, and their health.

They've been incredibly lucky health-wise. A cold now and then. One sprained ankle—Vala slipped in the mud after one of the rainstorms, and twisted it on a stone. Some strained and pulled muscles. A few cuts and bruises—he sliced his thigh on a piece of obsidian he was working into a tool, and Vala had to sew it. She nearly fainted at having to push a needle through his flesh, but he barely has a scar. No broken bones. No serious illness. Yes... incredibly lucky.

They have a house now—Jack finished it, and they moved in at the end of the first winter. Four log walls, a rough wood floor, a shake roof over log rafters, and a stone chimney. Vala's gotten beyond her initial surprise at his skill with wood. Inside is the furniture he has made—table, bench, bed, shelves—even a rocking chair, though he's not happy with it and plans to make a better one! Right now he's working on a storage chest.

They've explored for about fifty kilometers in every direction. They've found many edible plants, and a large variety of animals—the most dangerous of which are the saber cats. Over the course of the two years, they've killed six of the cats—three hunting pairs—and it has been a while since they've seen signs of more moving in.

On the other hand, there are many benign species. There are the deer-like creatures that live in the open grassy plains to the south. There are cows—or something very similar, which are placid and calm. They have been able to tame a couple of them and milk them. And there are many small rabbit- and squirrel-like animals.

They work all the time. In Winter Jack makes wooden implements and other items they need, as well as the furniture. Vala has become very good at creating palatable meals from the supplies they have available.

Together they've mastered the craft of making cloth, and they both have learned to sew. She's getting better at it each day. They've found a plant similar to flax that they can spin thread from. The loom Jack built is simple, primitive... but it works. They've been able to sew shirts and trousers for themselves—very rough garments, but durable and reasonably comfortable. Jack has perfected the tanning of deer hides, and from the resulting leather has made moccasins, and trousers and jackets for both of them. In her deerskin moccasins, she walks silently through the forest. The leather trousers are good protection from the brush that they walk through every day. Jack calls the deerskin clothing buckskins, and explains that early Native American people and frontiersmen wore clothing like this. He tells her about a man named Daniel Boone.

On this morning, in late Spring of their second year, Vala is taking the time to critically survey their present food supply. Beans... maybe 8 pounds . The grain they gather from the wheat-like stalk that they grow in the open areas nearby. Carrots, beets and potatoes, still keeping well in the root cellar. Dried corn and cornmeal in the bins Jack built. They have a more efficient grinding mill now, powered by a waterwheel that she and Jack built.

Right now there is about 20 pounds of meat and fish either dried or salted in the stone storage box which Jack built into the north side of the cellar. They hunt once a week and they fish and keep the snare lines going. Most of the meat they have right now is from the small animals—however the deer will be returning soon. Migration patterns take them out of walking distance during the Winter.

The gardens have been planted, and that is where Vala will spend most of her time today. The small plants are coming up, and need to be weeded and thinned. She hates thinning because she feels she is wasting the little plants she throws away, but those that are left will be healthier. The vegetable garden seems to get bigger every year. Their early experiment the first year with the rye-like plant was a failure, so they have since devoted that space to corn, which thrives here.

She carries water back to the cabin to fill the cistern they built on stilts at the back of the house. It takes several trips to fill it completely, but she makes a few each day, so it never runs dry. It is well worth the effort to have the water gravity-fed into the cabin. In warm weather, it also provides an outdoor shower. She climbs the ladder to the cistern, and pours in the last jug of water, then lowers the cover by means of the pulley system Jack set up.

For a moment she pauses to look around at the house, the cistern, the gardens. She is proud of what they have accomplished here, proud of herself for the ways that she has changed, the skills that she's learned, the strength she feels she's gained.

Vala finishes her indoor chores for the morning, cleaning the dishes and pots, straightening the bed, setting jugs of water on the hearth to warm by the fire.

Afterward she takes the milking jar and goes to find the cow that Jack has named Bossy. Bossy doesn't go far. Vala finds her in the field beyond the gate. The animal turns and makes the squeal of welcome that is her way of greeting the human. Her calf is grazing not far away, and she comes running. Vala feeds each of them a handful of dried corn and a carrot from their stores, then leads Bossy over to a stump and sits down to milk her. They don't take a lot of milk, maybe a liter each day, because she still leaves some for the calf. The milk is very rich, and she can skim the cream and make a little butter.

She puts the cover on the milk jar and carries it to the stream, setting it to cool in the box anchored in the water for that purpose. After washing her face and hands in the stream, she goes to find Jack.

She finds him in their old cave shelter, which has become a workshop since the cabin was finished. She knew he was there, of course. They no longer do everything together as they did for safetly in the beginning, but they never fail to let each other know where they are.

Standing outside the wall, she watches him for a few moments before he acknowledges her presence. He is working without a shirt, and she can see the hard, smooth muscles of his back and arms. He is thinner than when they came here, and stronger. He says himself it is the best shape he's been in since he was thirty.

She steps in through the doorway and he looks up and smiles at her. She's grown to love his smiles. He is so much more open and at ease with himself than he seemed to be on Earth. He's not a General there. There are no massive responsibilities wearing him down, no political parasites waiting to ambush him at every corner, no clingy underlings angling for his approval. There's just the two of them and the hard work of survival. And he thrives on it.

She smiles back at him and comes over to stand beside him, watching as he uses the bladed tool he made—he calls it a draw shave—to smooth the piece of wood that will be the top of the chest he is building.

"What I really need is a power plane," he told her with a grin when he was making the draw shave. "That's impossible, of course. Doing the job with the draw shave will take longer, but it'll do."

She's still a little in awe of the range of his talents—but she'll never admit it. "Who taught you woodworking?" she asked him once during the first summer.

"My grandfather and my uncle. We built a cabin together, the three of us, the summer I was fifteen. I doubt if I was much help, at least in the beginning, since I didn't want to be there. But they didn't give me a choice. I'd have probably ended up in jail if they hadn't hauled me off with them that year. Woodworking was certainly not the most important lesson I learned that summer, but by the end of it I was so in love with the idea of creating things out of wood that I knew I wanted to keep doing it. They were both incredible craftsmen—they'd done it all their lives, made their living at it. I'm nowhere as good as they were, but I keep trying."

"That looks beautiful," she tells him now as she passes her hand across the surface of the wood, which feels as smooth as silk under her palm. She turns to him and runs the same palm up his bare chest to his shoulder, rises onto her toes to press a kiss under his jaw.

"Easy..." he says, laughing. "Got a sharp tool here..."

"We'll put it to good use—later," she promises in a sultry voice, and nips with her teeth at the skin of his neck.

He takes a quick, uncontrolled breath, and sets the drawshave down, then puts his arms around her and pulls her close. His mouth covers hers in a leisurely kiss, which they both enjoy to its fullest, meshing lips and tongues and bodies together softly until the need to touch each other is momentarily satisfied, and they draw apart with a few final caresses.

Their relationship changed during the first winter they spent here, but it did not become intimate until nearly a year ago. Both of them held back from making that step. But they'd been here for over a year with no real hope they would be found. The fact that no one has come for them tells Jack that even Carter has not been able to figure out where/when they are. Vala was right when she pointed out that no matter how long it took them to work things out, SG1 could have come for them early in their exile.

He recalls how he felt a year ago...

_Jack hates the thought of giving up, of admitting that they will probably never be found. But he is lonely, and so is Vala. They have no one else to turn to. The attraction between them builds slowly... inevitably. They are both healthy adults, after all. The touch of another person is so important for survival—at least as important as food or shelter. The first time they are together, she cries bitterly afterward, and he cannot bring himself to look at her. With his eyes closed, he gathers her into his arms and whispers words of comfort meant for both of them. 'We aren't giving up. That's not what this means. We're fighting even harder to live.' As he feels her tears on his skin it is as if his heart is being broken and mended at the same time. _

_Eventually they talk of Daniel and Sam, and they both weep for their loss. But there is new strength and meaning in their union. Together they are not simply he and she. The whole is truly more than the sum of its parts._

So now she leans up with a smile to capture his lips once more. "I need to go work in the garden."

"Okay. As soon as I'm done with this I'll come and help you."

"Good. I'll see you later."

He squeezes her hand and lets her go, and she picks up the bow and arrows she put down when she came in, and walks to the door, turning to smile again at him before stepping through.

Outside she detours to the stream to fill her canteen before turning toward the Stargate clearing. The sun is getting higher in the cloudless sky, and it will probably be hot in an hour or so.

She works carefully at the thinning, kneeling in the dirt and humming to herself. Her long braid falls over her shoulder and she loops it up out of the way, not wanting it to fall in the dirt. She hears the usual sounds around her without really registering them—rustling of leaves in a slight breeze, small chattering noises of little animals, occasional call of a bird.

Suddenly there is a new sound—or rather an old one that she has not heard for a very long time! She sits up in shock, as the grating of metal sliding against metal reaches her ears, then jumps to her feet wide-eyed as the Stargate comes to life. She stares as the inner ring spins smoothly clockwise toward the first symbol of connection.

The initial chevron locks in with a clank, and Vala comes to herself with a jolt, grabbing her bow and spinning to race across the clearing in the direction of the shelter, calling Jack's name. Within moments, she sees him running toward her. The sound of the activating gate has reached his ears. They meet at the edge of the trees.

In the beginning they talked about what they will do if the gate activates. It is essential that they stay out of sight until they determine what is coming through. Jack thrusts one of the P90s into her hands, and they skirt the edge of the clearing until they reach an area of thick brush which offers good cover, and also a clear view of whoever emerges from the gate. They hide themselves to wait.

The third chevron engages, and the ring reverses direction toward the next symbol. "What do we do?" she asks.

"If it's Jaffa, we shoot them as they come out of the gate," Jack says in a hard voice. "Don't wait for them to see us. Aim for the vulnerable parts of their armor—you know where."

"Yes." She nods.

The fourth chevron locks in.

"If it's a Goa'uld, aim for the head. Before they can raise a shield."

"What if it's a species we don't recognize?"

"Then we'll have to play it by ear. If there are only a few, we can get the drop on them, and question them. If we can manage to talk to them."

Chevron five engages.

They wait in silence as the gate cycles through the sixth, and finally the seventh symbol. Both of them step back a little, and take a firmer grip on their weapons, as the wormhole fountains out from the ring.

Seconds later two figures walk out of the event horizon. Both are dressed in rough, heavy clothing, with hoods over their heads, and it is obvious at once they are not Jaffa—they are much too small, both are only a little more than five feet tall. They have what appears to be some sort of weapon strapped to their hips, but neither has the weapon in hand. Both figures proceed down the steps of the gate platform, as the event horizon ripples, and three more figures emerge. A few moments later, the wormhole disengages.

The five interlopers gather at the bottom of the gate platform, talking. After a few minutes one of them, perhaps the leader, steps away from the group and turns, surveying the clearing. At one point in his sweep, he pauses, and Jack and Vala see that he is looking toward their garden plot. He says something sharply to his companions, then shoves the hood away from his head and scans the perimeter of the clearing, at the same time drawing his sidearm from its place on his hip.

By this time he is facing the direction where Jack and Vala are hiding, and they both draw a breath of surprise when they see his face. His countenance is covered with dark brown fur.

"They're Peglean!" Vala gasps. "They've come!"


End file.
